^ 


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THE 


COST  OF  MANUFACTURES 


AND    THE 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WORKSHOPS, 


PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE, 


BY 


CAPTAIN  HENRY  METCALFE, 

Ordnance   Department, 
U.  S.  A. 


THIRD   EDITION. 

FIRST  THOUSAND. 

WITH   APPENDIX   SPECIALLY   ILLUSTRATING  AN   APPLICATION   OF   THE   METHOD 
TO   PRIVATE   MANUFACTURES. 


NEW   YORK: 

JOHN  WILEY  4  SONS. 
1894. 


i,^oOb' 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-five, 

By  henry  METCALFE, 

in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Co, 
Astor  Place,  New  York. 


TO  THi^ME^MQ^Y  OF 
COLONEL  JAMES  G.  BENTON, 

ORDNANCE   DEP't,    U.    S.    A., 

WHOSE  EXAiMPLE  WILL  OUTLIVE  ALL  MONUMENTS 
AND  PRAISE. 


CONTENTS. 


PART    I.  Chap. 

Fundamental  laws I- 

Introduction H- 

PART    II. 

Present  organization  of  an  arsenal III. 

Arsenal  book-keeping  generally IV. 

Present  system,  external  relations V. 

Present  system,  internal  relations VI. 

General  objections  to  present  method  and  outline  of  a  better  one VII. 

PART    III. 

Proposed  organization  of  an  arsenal VIIL 

Instruments  of  proposed  system IX. 

Proposed  system,  external  relations X. 

Proposed  system,  internal  relations,  viz.  : 

1.  Orders XI. 

2.  Labor  charges XII. 

3.  Material XIII. 

Proposed  system,  duties  of  stock  clerk XIV. 

Proposed  system,  duties  of  cost  clerk XV. 

Application  of  proposed  system  to  private  shops XVI. 

PART   I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 
Chapter  I. 
FUNDAMENTAL  LAWS. 

Laws  regarding  property  accountability,  7.  Ordnance  regulations,  8.  Definition  of 
Ordnance  and  Ordnance  Stores,  8.  Duties  of  Ordnance  Officers,  8.  Issues  of  O.  & 
O.  S.,  9.  Returns,  etc.,  required  from  ordnance  establishments,  9.  Transfers  of  O.  & 
O.  S.,  II.  Money  accountability,  12.  Internal  relations  of  officers  of  an  arsenal,  12. 
Ordnance  property  regulations,  12.    Property  accountability,  13.    Records  required,  14. 

Chapter  II. 
INTRODUCTION. 

The  existence  of  a  science  of  administration  inferred  from  that  of  its  correlative  art,  15. 
The  science  of  administration  is  based  upon  experience,  15.  Comparison  between  per- 
sonal experience,  which  is  of  the  memory,  and  that  which  is  general  and  may  be  for- 
mulated, 15.  Experience  should  be  based  upon  the  continuous  comparison  of  observa- 
tions, 16.  Requirements  of  correct  observation,  16.  Critical  observation  of  an  adminis- 
tration directed  principally  to  its  cost,  17.  Components  of  cost ;  their  determination  by 
analysis  and  their  recombination  into  comparable  forms,  17.  Ultimate  relation  between 
experience  and  applied  art,  17.  Object  of  this  book:  1st,  as  to  formulating  experience 
by  truly  recording  causes  oi  cost ;  2nd,  as  to  reducing  labor  of  administration  while 


2  CONTENTS. 

increasing  extent  and  minuteness  of  its  scope,  17.  History  of  working  of  original 
system  at  Frankford  Arsenal  and  at  Benicia  Arsenal,  18.  Its  simplicity  in  practice,  21. 
History  of  proposed  improvements,  21.  Principles  guiding  improvement,  22.  Appli- 
cation on  sliding  scale,  23.  Criticism  of  present  methods  defended,  23.  Originality 
of  system,  24.  X 

PART  II. 
PRESENT  METHODS  DESCRIBED  AND  CRITICISED. 
Chapter  III. 
PRESENT  ORGANIZA  TION  OF  AN  ARSENAL. 

Schedule,  27.  Anomalous  relations  between  C.  O.  and  O.  S-K.,  27.  Consequence 
in  practice,  29.  Unconsumed  expenditures,  30.  Two  theories  of  relations  between 
co-ordinate  powers,  31.  Discussion  of  status  of  C.  O.,  31.  And  of  officer  in  charge 
of  manufactures,  32.     Deputies  of  officer  in  charge  and  of  O.  S-K.,  32. 

Chapter  IV. 
ARSENAL  BOOK-KEEPING   GENERALLY. 

Schedule  showing  constitution  of  arsenal,  34.  Industrial  department  with  its  inter- 
nal relations,  35.  Military  department  with  its  external  relations,  35.  Trusteeship,  36. 
The  data  of  arsenal  book-keeping,  37.  Comparison  of  accounts  for  labor  and 
material,  38. 

Chapter  V. 

PRESENT  SYSTEM,  EXTERNAL  RELATIONS. 

Definitions,  41.  Abstracts,  41.  Agencies,  42.  Vouchers,  42.  Nomenclature  and 
classification  of  material,  43.  Compilation  of  abstracts,  47.  Preparation  of  property 
return,  48.  Criticism  of  present  methods  of  preparing  property  return,  49.  Preparation 
of  current  service  return,  54.     General  remarks  on  present  system  of  accountabiliy,  55. 

Chapter  VI. 
PRESENT  SYSTEM,  INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 

Method  of  giving  orders  and  recording  them,  57.  Objections,  57.  Accounting  for 
labor,  59.  Procuring  and  accounting  for  material,  65.  Determining  cost  of  prod- 
uct, 70.     By  foremen,  72.     By  clerk,  74. 

Chapter  VII. 
GENERAL   OBJECTIONS   TO  PRESENT  METHOD. 
Combination  tools,  76.     Outline  of  a  good  system,  78. 

PART  III. 

PROPOSED   SYSTEM   DESCRIBED. 
Chapter  VIII. 
PROPOSED   ORGANIZA  TION  OF  AN  ARSENAL. 
Schedule,  83.     Duties  of  officers,  83. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

INSTRUMENTS  OF  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 
I.  Material  Instruments. 
Cards,   85.     Ticket   punches,   91.     Stamps,   92.     Racks,   92.     Pigeon  holes,   92. 
Trays,  96.     Post-office,  96. 


CONTENTS.  3 

INSTRUMENTS  OF  PROPOSED  SYSTEM  (continued). 
11.  Symbolic  Nomenclature. 
Components  of  cost,  97.  Nature  of  symbols,  97.  Extent  of  analysis,  98.  Sym- 
bol  for  Shop-Order  or  expense  account,  99.  Symbol  for  character  of  expenditure,  99. 
Plant  and  work,  99.  Symbol  for  objects  of  expenditure,  105.  Staple  products,  106, 
Pieces,  106.  Components,  106.  Members,  106.  Notation  for  objects,  107.  Oberlin 
Smith  on  Notation,  no.  Examples  in  notation  of  objects,  118.  Small-arms,  119. 
Ammunition,  123.  Symbol  for  operation  perfoiTned,  126.  Example  of  notation  of 
operations  in  a  machine-shop,  128.     Practical  examples  in  symbolic  notation,  130. 

Chapter  X. 
PROPOSED  SYSTEM,  EXTERNAL  RELATIONS. 

Expansion  of  functions  of  C.  O.  as  regards  material,  134.  Resulting  effect  on  organ- 
ization, 135.  Changes  suggested  in  established  form,  136.  Consolidated  arsenal 
return,  138.     Tables  of  abstracts,  140. 

Chapter  XI. 
PROPOSED  SYSTEM,  INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 

1.  Orders  for  work. 

Shop-order  book,  142.  Standing  orders,  142.  Supplementary  orders,  144.  Order 
tickets,  144.     Practical  use  of  order  tickets,  146. 

Chapter  XII. 

2.  Labor  charges. 

Inside  the  arsenal,  153.  Outside  the  arsenal,  156.  Examples,  157.  Shop  ex- 
penses, 166. 

Chapter  XIII. 

3.  Material  card. 

Description,  168.  Use  of  card,  preliminary,  171.  Requisitions,  174.  Stores  in 
charge,  175.     Rules  for  use  of  card,  176.     Cases  in  practice,  179. 

Chapter  XIV. 
DUTIES   OF  THE  STOCK  CLERK. 

Outfit,  243.  Journal  and  ledger  slips,  244.  Manner  of  posting  cards  to  slips,  248. 
Papers  combining  accountability  for  cash  and  property,  present  system,  250.  Pro- 
posed system,  256,  260. 

Chapter  XV. 
DUTIES  OF  THE   COST  CLERK. 

Outfit,  266.  Wages  tables,  266.  Service  cards,  272.  Material  cards,  274.  Cash 
accountability,  275.  Recoveries,  284.  Reconciling  cost  with  disbursements,  289. 
Analysis  of  cost,  292.     Miscellaneous  papers,  298.     Pivate  work,  308. 

Chapter  XVI. 

APPLICATION  TO  PRIVATE  SHOPS. 

Discrimination  of  sources  of  expense,  309.  Selections  from  this  book  applying  to 
private  shops,  310. 

APPENDIX 311 


ILLUSTRATIVE  DIAGRAMS,  TABLESUFFORMS. 


PAGE. 

Annual  abstract II 

Present  arsenal  organization 27 

Arsenal  book-keeping 34 

Single  abstract  (of  fabrication),  gen- 
eral form 42a 

Double  abstract,  general  form 426 

Present  nomenclature  of  abstracts 45 

Property  return ^ 54a 

Inventory 54^ 

Time  books  A;  B;  C; 60 

Proposed  arsenal  organization 83 

Correspondence  card 90 

Pigeon  holes  and  racks 93 

Swinging  trays 94,  95 

Symbolic  tree 104 

Proposed  nomenclature  of  operations,  133 
Analysis  of  abstracts  and  use  of  mate- 
rial card 140 

Order  ticket 145 

Shop-order  book 150 

Service   card 151 

Examples  in  use  of  service  card 157 

Punch  marks..... 179 


PAGE. 

Examples  in  use  of  material  card 181 

Journal  slips 245 

Ledger  slips 247 

Certificate  of  inspection 251 

Voucher 252 

Abstract  of  purchases,  monthly,  pres- 
ent form 254 

Abstract  of  purchase,  monthly,  pro- 
posed form 258 

Register  of  fly  bills,  proposed 263 

Wages  table,  proposed 267 

Time  book 2  70 

Cost  sheet,  proposed 277 

Credit  sheet,  proposed 280 

Appropriation  sheet,  proposed 283 

Recovery  record,  proposed 285 

Analysis  of  services,  proposed 293 

Analysis  of  material,  proposed 295 

Analysis  of  cost,  proposed 297 

Return  of  hired  men 299 

Statement  of  expenditures 301 

Abstract  of  disbursements 304 

Report  of  work 307 


PART  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 


f  "Dniversitt) 
CHAPTER    I. 

LAWS  AND  REGULATIONS. 

The  following  extracts   comprise  all  the  essential  regulations  bearing  upon  the 
accountability  for  public  property  at  the  Arsenals : 

I.  Revised  Statutes. 

"The  Chief  of  Ordnance  shall,  half-yearly,  or  oftener,  if  so 
directed,  make  a  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War  of  all  the  officers 
and  enlisted  men  in  his  department  of  the  service,  and  of  all 
ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  under  his  control.  Every  officer 
of  the  Ordnance  Department,  every  ordnance  storekeeper,  every 
post  ordnance  sergeant,  each  keeper  of  magazines,  arsenals  and 
armories,  every  assistant  and  deputy  of  such,  and  all  other 
officerlB,  agents,  or  persons  who  shall  have  received  or  may  be 
intrusted  with  any  stores  or  supplies,  shall  quarterly,  or  oftener, 
if  so  directed,  and  in  such  manner  and  on  such  forms  as  may  be 
directed  or  prescribed  by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  make  true  and 
correct  returns  to  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  of  all  ordnance,  arms, 
ordnance  stores,  and  all  other  supplies  and  property  of  every 
kind,  received  by  or  intrusted  to  them  and  each  of  them,  or 
which  may  in  any  manner  come  into  their  and  each  of  their 
possession  or  charge.  The  Chief  of  Ordnance,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  is  hereby  authorized  and 
directed  to  draw  up  and  enforce  in  his  department  a  system  of 
rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment, and  of  all  persons  in  said  Department,  and  for  the  safe 
keeping  and  preservation  of  all  ordnance  property  of  all  kinds, 
and  to  direct  and  prescribe  the  time,  number,  and  forms  of  all 
returns  and  reports,  and  to  enforce  compliance  therewith." — Sec- 
tion ii6y,  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States. 


8  LA  WS  AND  REG  ULA  TIONS. 

II.  Ordnance  Regulations. 

3.  The  Chief  of  Ordnance,  under  the  Secretary  of  War,  is,  by 
law,  charged  with  the  examination  and  settlement  of  the  property 
accountabihty  of  all  officers  or  other  persons  in  the  military 
establishment,  to  whom  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  are 
intrusted. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  ## 

13.  The  general  denomination  "ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  " 
comprehends  all  cannon  and  artillery  carriages  and  equipments ; 
all  apparatus  and  machines  for  the  service  and  manoeuver  of 
artillery ;  all  small  arms,  accoutrements,  and  horse  equipments ; 
all  ammunition,  and  all  tools,  machinery  and  materials  for  the 
ordnance  service  j  *  *  *  materials  for  shoeing,  and 
all  horse  equipments  and  harness  for  the  artillery;  and  in  general 
all  property,  of  whatever  nature,  supplied  to  the  military  estab- 
lishment by  the  Ordnance  Department. 

14.  Officers  of  the  Ordnance  Department  are  charged  with 
procuring  all  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  for  the  use  of  the 
military  establishment.  These  stores  are  procured  by  fabrica- 
tion in  the  arsenals,  armories,  or  other  ordnance  establishments, 
by  contract,  or  by  open  purchase. 

16.  The  commanding  officer  of  an  armory,  arsenal,  depot,  or 
other  ordnance  establishment,  under  the  direction  of  the  Chief 
of  Ordnance,  makes  and  publishes  the  rules  for  its  internal  gov- 
ernment, procures  the  necessary  materials  and  tools,  engages 
the  workmen,  assigns  their  grades,  and  appoints  the  necessary 
foremen. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  ** 

18.  The  commanding  officer  of  an  armory,  arsenal,  or  other 
ordnance  establishment  extends  to  the  junior  officers  under  his 
command  every  facility  and  encouragement  in  the  performance 
of  ordnance  duties,  assigning  to  each  some  portion  of  the  manu- 
facturing and  administrative  work — for  which  each  will  be  held 
responsible — and  keeps  them  constantly  advised  of  the  orders 


ORDNANCE  REGULATIONS.  9 

and  instructions  received,  and  the  correspondence  conducted  in 
administering  the  affairs  of  the  command,  both  as  a  manufacturing 
establishment  and  a  miHtary  post. 

******** 

27.  Orders  for  the  issue  of  stores  from  an  armory,  arsenal,  or 
other  ordnance  establishment,  are  addressed  to  the  commanding 
officer  thereof  by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  who  turns  them  over  to 
the  officer  responsible  for  the  property,  and  directs  the  issue. 

******** 

57.  The  following  inventories,  returns,  statements,  reports,  etc., 
from  armories.,  arsenals  and  other  ordnance  establishments,  are 
required  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Ordnance  Office  not  later  than 
the  date  specified  in  each  case,  viz. : 

Annually. 

An  inventory  of  all  stores  on  hand  at  the  post  June  30.  To 
be  forwarded  on  or  before  August  31. 

A  return  of  all  ordnance,  ordnance  stores,  etc.,  received,  issued, 
and  remaining  on  hand  during  the  year  ending  December  31, 
with  th^  necessary  vouchers.  To  be  forwarded  within  sixty  days 
after  the  expiration  of  the  year. 

A  return  of  all  ordnance  stores,  tools,  and  draught  animals  in 
current  service  during  the  year  ending  June  30.  To  be  forwarded 
on  or  before  August  31. 

A  report,  in  a  condensed  form,  of  the  principal  operations  of 
the  post  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  including  an  account  of 
experiments,  of  the  construction  and  repair  of  buildings,  machin- 
ery, stores,  etc.     To  be  forwarded  on  or  before  August  31. 

Quarterly. 

Abstracts  of  receipts  and  issues  of  ordnance,  stores,  etc.,  with 
vouchers.  To  be  forwarded  not  later  than  April  20,  July  20,  and 
October  20. 

A  classified  abstract  of  ordnance,  ordnance  stores,  etc.,  fabri- 
cated during  the  quarter,  showing  quantity,  kind,  and  cost.  This 
is  required  in  addition  to  the  copy  required  as  a  voucher  with  the 


y 


lo  LA  WS  AND  REG  ULA  TIONS. 

property  returns.     To  be  forwarded  within  fifteen  days  after  the 
expiration  of  each  quarter. 

Monthly. 

A  statement  of  the  principal  serviceable  stores  on  hand  To 
be  prepared  on  the  last  day  of  each  month  and  forwarded  not 
later  than  the  next  day. 

A  return  of  hired  men,  giving  the  names  of  all  employees,  the 
time  worked,  their  respective  duties,  wages,  and  amounts  earned 
under  each  appropriation,  with  certificates  explaining  any  extra 
time  worked,  or  other  unusual  occurrence.  To  be  forwarded  not 
later  than  the  5th  of  the  ensuing  month. 

A  statement  of  manufactures  and  other  work  done  during  the 
month  (Form  35).  To  be  forwarded  not  later  than  the  5th  of 
the  ensuing  month. 

Weekly. 
A  report  of  the  ordnance,  ordnance  stores,  etc.,  received  and 
issued  during  the  week.  ^ 

58.  The  property  accountability  of  the  ordnance  and  ordnance 
stores  at  armories,  arsenals,  and  other  ordnance  establishments  is 
shown  as  follows,  viz. : 

A  complete  return  is  made  annually  on  December  31. 

Abstracts  of  receipts  and  issues,  with  vouchers,  made  on  March 
31,  June  30,  and  September  30. 

The  vouchers  pertaining  to  each  abstract  are  numbered  frpm 
No.  I  upward,  the  whole  year  forming  one  series. 

******♦*■ 

59.  Abstracts  in  detail  are  not  required  with  the  Annual  Prop- 
erty Returns  in  addition  to  the  Quarterly  Abstracts  sent  for  March 
31,  June  30,  September  30,  and  those  for  the  quarter  ending 
December  31,  due  with  the  Annual  Return;  but  the  footings  of 
the  Quarterly  Abstracts  are  exhibited  in  the  following  form,  viz. : 


ORDNANCE  REGULATIONS,  ii 

Annual  abstract  of  articles  (purchased,  issued,  received,  etc.,  as  the 
case  may  be)  during  the  year  ending  December  "^ist. 


In  first  quarter,  187  .., 
In  second  quarter,  187 
In  third  quarter,  187  . 
In  fourth  quarter,  187 

Total  in  year , 


*  Names  of  articles  arranged  according  to  classes. 


64.  The  commanding  officer  of  an  armory,  arsenal  or  other 
ordnance  establishment  transmits  to  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  prior 
to  August  31st  of  each  year,  a  return  according  to  Form  No.  i, 
of  all  ordnance,  tools,  machines  and  other  stores,  including 
public  animals  in  current  service,  and,  at  the  end  of  each  month, 
turns  ovxr  to  the  storekeeper  all  finished  articles  fabricated  dur- 
ing the  month,  and  other  stores  not  required  in  the  current 
service. 

65.  All  returns  of  property  are  made  according  to  the  forms 
prescribed  in  these  regulations.  In  all  the  vouchers  and  abstracts 
accompanying  a  property  return,  the  articles  arranged  in  the  same 
order  as  in  the  body  of  the  return. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *      \ 

6y.  The  commanding  officer  of  an  armory,  arsenal,  or  other 
ordnance  establishment,  turns  over  to  the  storekeeper  invoices  of 
stores  received,  to  be  receipted  for  by  him,  and  furnishes  him 
abstracts  of  articles  fabricated,  purchased,  repaired,  etc.,  from 
which  the  storekeeper  makes  the  proper  returns.  All  articles 
purchased,  fabricated,  or  repaired,  are  inspected  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  commanding  officer  before  being  paid  for  or  turned 
into  store. 

68.  Materials  to  be  consumed  or  expended  at  an  armory, 
arsenal,  or  other  ordnance  establishment,  are  issued  on  written 


12  ZAIVS  AND  REG  ULA  TIONS. 

orders  from  the  commanding  officer  to  the  storekeeper,  who 
makes  quarterly  abstracts  (Form  %)  oi  such  issues,  which,  when 
certified  to  as  correct  by  the  commanding  officer,  are  his  vouchers. 

72.  When  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  are  issued  by  one 
officer  to  another  the  required  invoices  and  receipts  pass  between 
them,  and  their  property  returns  show  the  transaction. 

**  *  *  **** 

84.  The  object  of  a  system  of  money  accounts  is  to  insure  the 
application  of  public  resources  to  their  prescribed  ends ;  and 
this  is  effected  by  furnishing  those  to  whose  supervision  such 
transactions  are  committed  by  law,  with  the  data  or  evidence 
upon  which  they  can  base  an  intelligent  and  correct  judgment 
touching  the  fidelity  with  which  the  trust  confided  has  been 
executed. 

87.  The  ordnance  storekeeper  disburses  the  public  funds  upon 
pay-rolls  or  other  accounts,  certified  to  as  correct  by  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  armory,  arsenal,  or  other  ordnance  estab- 
lishment, each  voucher  showing  upon  its  face  the  sum  total  in 
words  and  figures ;  and,  under  his  direction,  has  the  care  and 
custody,  and  makes  the  returns  of  the  ordnance  and  ordnance 
stores,  except  those  in  current  use,  for  which,  including  draught 
animals,  the  commanding  officer  is  accountable. 

88.  When  there  is  no  storekeeper,  or  in  case  of  his  absence, 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  armory,  arsenal,  or  other  ordnance 
establishment,  is  accountable  for  all  the  ordnance  property  and 
funds  at  the  post,  unless  authorized  by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  to 
devolve  the  accountability  on  a  junior  officer. 

**»♦*#»* 

III.  Ordnance  Property  Regulations,  1877. 

2.  The  ordnance  storekeeper  at  an  armory,  arsenal,  or  other 
ordnance  establishment  is  responsible  for  all  ordnance  and  ord- 
nance stores,  excepting  such  ordnance  tools,  machines,  or  other 
stores,  including  public  animals,  as  are  required  for  the  current 


ORDNANCE  PROPERTY  REG  ULA  TIONS.  13 

service  of  the   post,  which   are   in   charge   of  the   commanding 
officer  thereof. 

3.  The  commanding  officer  of  each  post  is  accountable  for  all 
ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  at  the  post,  not  issued  to  the  com- 
pany or  detachment  commanders,  or  not  in  charge  of  an  officer 
of  ordnance  or  an  ordnance  storekeeper. 

******* 
12.  The  object  of  making  a  return  is  to  present,  at  stated 
times,  in  a  condensed  form,  according  to  a  well-arranged  sys- 
tem, an  exact  account,  duly  vouched  for,  of  all  the  property  with 
which  an  officer  is  properly  to  be  debited,  and  also  of  all  prop- 
erty with  which  he  is  to  be  credited.  The  difference  between 
the  two  gives  his  exact  accountability. 

******* 
-  20.  At  armories,  arsenals,  or  other  ordnance  establishments, 
where  purchases  and  fabrications  are  made,  abstracts  of  each  are 
prepared,  covering  all  vouchers  under  each  head  accumulated 
during  the  quarter,  according  to  Forms  6  and  7.  These  ab- 
stracts are  entered  on  the  returns  in  the  order  indicated  above. 

21.  Where  ordnance  stores,  previously  borne  on  the  return  as 
unserviceable,  have  been  repaired  during  the  quarter,  or  when 
important  repairs  have  been  made  during  the  quarter  to  stores 
previously  reported  as  serviceable,  either  under  the  authority  of 
a  duly  authorized  inspector  or  that  conveyed  by  the  Regulations 
of  the  Army,  a  list  of  stores  so  repaired  and  transferred  from 
unserviceable  to  serviceable  during  the  quarter  is  made  out  and 
entered  as  follows : 

First.  On  the  debit  portion  of  the  return,  immediately  after 
the  abstracts  of  fabrications  and  purchases  ;  or,  if  there  are  none, 
after  the  receipt  of  stores,  taking  up  all  serviceable  articles  under 
the  proper  headings. 

Second.  On  the  credit  portion  of  the  return,  using  the  last 
line,  and  entering  all  unserviceable  articles  in  their  proper 
columns.  The  principle  being  to  add  all  the  serviceable  stores 
to  the  officer's  responsibility,  and  from  it  to  subtract  all  the  un- 
serviceable ones. 


14  LA  IVS  AND  REG  ULA  TIONS. 

******* 
27.  Ammunition  and  material  for  manufacture  or  repairs  are 
the  only  ordnance  stores  which  are  "  expended,"  taking  the 
meaning  of  the  word  as  used  in  a  quarterly  return.  When 
ammunition  or  material  for  repairs  or  manufacture  has  been  ex- 
pended, an  abstract  of  such  expenditures  is  prepared ;  the  total 
of  such  expenditures,  as  shown  by  this  abstract,  is  entered  after 
the  words,  "  Expended  as  per  abstract;"  the  date  is  that  of  the 
last  day  of  the  quarter,  and  the  number  the  next  to  that  of  the 
last  voucher  entered.  In  the  abstract  is  stated  explicitly  whether 
the  stores  have  been  expended  in  practice,  in  action,  or  for  repairs, 
and  the  amount  expended  under  each  head  respectively, 

48.  At  armories,  arsenals,  or  other  ordnance  establishments, 
special  books  are  kept,  corresponding  respectively  to  the  various 
abstracts  required  by  the  Ordnance  Office  to  be  entered  in  the 
quarterly  return.  These  books  are  as  follows :  for  "  Stores  re- 
ceived from  the  Army,"  "  Received  from  contractors,"  "  Received 
from  sundry  persons,"  "  Fabrications,"  "  Repairs,"  "  Purchases," 
and  "  Stores  taken  up;"  the  sum  of  all  the  entries  in  each  form- 
ing the  total  to  be  accounted  for  at  the  post. 

In  like  manner  for  "  Issues  to  the  Regular  Army,"  "  Issues  to 
the  volunteers  and  militia,"  "  Issues  to  forts  and  permanent  bat- 
teries," "  Sales  to  officers  for  their  personal  use,"  "  Issues  to 
sundry  persons,"  "  Condemned  stores,"  arranged  under  the  vari- 
ous heads  of  repaired,  broken  up,  sold,  or  dropped  ;  "  Expendi- 
tures," under  the  heads  indicated  by  the  business  of  the  post; 
"  Issued  for  current  service,"  and  "  Stores  lost  or  destroyed," 
etc.,  etc.,  the  sum  of  these  entries  forming  the  total  accounted  for. 

Whether  all,  or  how  many,  of  these  books  are  required,  is 
decided  by  the  extent  of  the  business  at,  and  the  importance  of, 
the  post;  but  every  means  are  taken  to  be  able  to  present  to  an 
inspecting  officer,  at  any  time,  full  and  satisfactory  records  of  the 
current  transactions  of  the  establishment. 


CHAPTER  II. 

INTRODUCTION. 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  general  principle  that  while  Art  seeks  to 
produce  certain  effects,  Science  is  principally  concerned  with 
investigating  the  causes  of  these  effects. 

Thus,  independently  of  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  art 
selected  for  illustration,  there  always  seems  room  for  a  corre- 
sponding science,  collecting  and  classifying  the  records  of  the 
past  so  that  the  future  operations  of  the  art  may  be  more 
effective. 

The  administration  of  arsenals  and  other  workshops  is  in  great 
measure  an  art,  and  depends  upon  the  application  to  a  great 
variety  of  cases  of  certain  principles,  which,  taken  together,  make 
up  what  may  be  called  the  science  of  administration. 

These  principles  need  not  be  formulated,  nor  even  recognized 
as  such,  and  they  vary  with  the  conditions  which  call  them  forth ; 
so  that  while  their  essence  may  be  the  same,  the  special  rules  of 
conduct  derived  from  them  may,  in  various  circumstances,  be 
widely  different.  Yet,  for  each  set  of  conditions  their  character 
is  the  same,  and  in  all  they  constitute  what  is  known  as  our 
experience. 

Some  men  have  the  gift  of  so  arranging  their  experience  that 
it  is  always  ready  with  an  answer  to  whatever  question  new  con- 
ditions may  propose.  But  such  men  are  rare  and  are  seldom 
found  in  subordinate  positions.  In  any  case  their  knowledge 
goes  with  them  when  they  depart,  instead  of  remaining,  as  it 
should,  and  in  great  measure  might  do,  as  one  of  the  most 
valuable  earnings  of  the  business  in  which  it  was  acquired. 

For  this  purpose  it  should  be  formulated,  if  a  way  were  found, 
so  that  its  record  might  be  plain  to  whoever  had  the  right  to 
read  it. 


i6  INTRODUCTION. 

Now,  since  the  operations  of  good  administration  are  in  their 
nature  gradual,  and  for  their  successful  issue  depend  rather  upon 
uniform  attention  to  their  progress  than  upon  occasional  violent 
efforts  to  adjust  them  to  the  current  of  affairs,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  most  useful  teachings  are  those  gained  from  a  continuous 
record  of  events ;  for  these  may  be  expected  to  recur  with  time, 
while  great  catastrophes  can  seldom  be  provided  for,  or,  in  fact, 
prevented,  better  than  by  the  daily  discharge  of  the  duties 
pertaining  to  direction. 

If  there  be  a  science  correlative  to  the  art  of  administration, 
it  must,  like  every  other  physical  science,  be  founded  on  the 
comparison  of  accumulated  observations. 

Since  the  accuracy  of  the  knowledge  sought  can  be  no  greater 
than  the  exactness  of  the  data  from  which  it  is  derived,  in  order 
to  make  a  proper  comparison  it  is  important  that  the  observations 
be  as  free  from  error  as  possible,  and  that  they  be  measured  by 
a  common  standard. 

Errors  of  observation  may  be  divided  into  two  general  classes ; 
the  instrumental,-  and  those  due  to  the  personal  bias  of  the 
observer;  the  former  referring  to  the  standard  itself,  and  the 
latter  to  the  application  of  the  standard  and  the  record  of  the 
measurement. 

Whatever  be  the  standard  of  measurement,  it  suffices  for 
comparison  if  it  be  generally  accepted,  if  it  be  impartially 
applied  and  if  the  results  be  fairly  recorded. 

In  regard  to  personal  errors  of  observation  it  is  generally 
admitted  that  truth  is  most  nearly  approached  when,  having 
observers  of  equal  goodness  they  are  most  numerous,  and  when 
they  individually  know  least  of  the  immediate  consequences  of 
what  they  report. 

Hence  the  most  truthful  records  will  be  had  when  each  observ- 
er's share  of  the  work  is  reduced  to  a  minimum  ;  for  the  number 
of  observers  being  the  greatest  possible,  each  one  will  have  so 
much  the  less  to  do,  and  being,  therefore,  better  able  to  do 
his  share,  each  will  feel  more  responsible  for  the  accuracy 
of  the  aggregate  result  and  will  besides  be  most  Ukelj"  to  have 


THE  COST  STANDARD.  17 

his  bias  neutralized  by  the  opposing  tendencies  of  the  other 
observers. 

Now,  efficiency  being  admitted,  the  excellence  of  an  adminis- 
tration is  universally  measured  by  its  cost. 

This  cost  is  composed  of  the  sum  of  the  costs  of  each  of  its 
actions ;  so  that  to  properly  value  an  administration  we  require 
to  know  both  what  it  has  done  and  the  cost  of  doing  it. 

The  greater  the  detail  of  this  knowledge  the  greater  its  value  ;  for 
the  more  exactly  then  can  causes  of  past  expenditure  be  traced 
back  from  their  effects,  and  the  more  certainly  may  estimates  of 
future  cost  be  based  on  what  is  already  known  and  established. 

Success  in  manufacturing  depends  almost  entirely  upon  accu- 
racy of  estimate. 

The  extent  to  which  the  analysis  of  cost  and  product  may  be 
carried  need  only  be  limited  by  the  expense  of  making  it  or  by 
the  power  of  comprehending  and  comparing  the  results  which 
it  affords. 

To  utilize  such  an  examination  two  processes  are  necessary, 
one  inductive  and  the  other  deductive ;  for  the  product  and  its 
cost  having  been  analyzed  as  far  as  convenience  will  permit,  the 
resulting  items  must  be  recombined  into  forms  admitting -of  a 
comparison  from  which  may  be  deduced  certain  general  rules 
for  the  future  conduct  of  affairs. 

Then  will  Experience  take  definite  form  and  become  indeed  a 
teacher;   thus  Science  be  the  handmaid  of  the  art. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  book  to  show  how  the  cost  of  adminis- 
tration may  be  determined,  both  in  gross  and  the  remotest  details, 
by  such  impersonal,  invariable  means  that  their  record  may  be 
looked  upon  as  being  as  nearly  absolutely  true  as  that  of  any 
other  similarly  extended  series  of  observations. 

Together  with  this  comes  a  method  of  administration  which 
reduces  its  labors  to  a  minimum  and  yet  immensely  increases  its 
scope,  by  recording,  in  whatever  minuteness  of  detail  may  ever 
be  required,  full  information  as  to  services  performed  and  as  to 
material  in  all  stages  of  manufacture,  received,  expended  and 
remaining  on  hand. 


1 8  INTR  on  UCTION. 

Furthermore,  its  records  will  be  made  continuously  from  day 
to  day,  it  may  be  from  hour  to  hour,  so  that,  being  disposed  of 
in  detail,  the  turmoil  and  anxiety  of  periodical  accounting  will  be 
unknown. 

Few  will  deny  the  advantages  of  such  a  scheme;  many  will 
consider  it  Utopian.  To  such  I  offer  the  following  account  of 
what  it  has  done. 

While  in  charge  of  the  workshops  of  Frankford  Arsenal,  in 
order  to  keep  track  of  the  list  of  shop,  or  work  orders,  of  which 
80  to  100  were  always  in  hand,  I  began  a  book  in  which  they 
were  entered  as  received  from  the  Commanding  Officer  and 
crossed  off  when  completed.  This  worked  for  but  a  short  time, 
when  it  became  so  inconvenient  that  I  was  led  to  give  to  each 
order  a  serial  number  as  a  symbol  by  which  it  was  to  be 
known. 

To  communicate  these  orders  to  the  foremen  came  the  order 
tickets,  correspondingly  numbered  and  distinguished  as  described 
in  the  text.  The  analysis  of  the  character  of  the  work,  and  of  the 
objects  and  operations  came  later,  and  led  to  the  Time  Card  now 
in  use  at  Frankford  Arsenal,  the  idea  of  which  was  remotely 
derived  from  that  in  use  at  the  National  Armory  during  my  service 
there.  This  carried  the  labor  question  as  far  as  it  was  considered 
at  Frankford  Arsenal,  and  completed  by  far  the  easier  portion  of 
the  task. 

For  the  reasons  stated  in  the  text,  the  question  of  material  gave 
much  more  trouble.  One  form  of  card  after  another  was  tried, 
each  one  more  simple  and  comprehensive  than  the  last,  until  the 
form  of  Material  Card  now  used  at  the  arsenal  was  devised. 

The  plan  was  unfolded  to  the  foremen  by  a  lecture  on 
the  1 8th  of  June,  1881.  Seven  working  days  afterwards  I  was 
detailed  to  other  duty  and  have  never  since  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  working  of  the  system  at  the  Arsenal,  Yet,  as  official 
reports  lately  made  declare,  it  continues  to  give  satisfaction  and 
is  followed  substantially  as  it  left  my  hands. 

I  have  much  for  which  to  thank  Colonel  Lyford  and  Captain 
Michaelis,  the  former  for  the  support  given  as  Commanding  Officer 


HISTORICAL.  19 

to  the  operation  of  a  scheme,  the  development  of  which  he  did  so 
much  to  encourage ;  and  the  latter,  my  successor  in  charge,  both 
for  his  interest  in  its  continuance  and  for  improvements  from 
which  I  have  borrowed  the  suggestions  noted  in  the  text. 

Still,  I  think  it  will  be  acknowledged  that  it  must  have  had 
considerable  intrinsic  vitality  to  have  endured  so  well  my  early 
removal  from  its  charge.  I  am  fain  to  believe  that  it  was  because 
it  met  a  real  want,  not  only  that  it  furnished  the  Commanding 
Officer  with  superior  information  without  abridging  in  any  way 
his  prerogatives,  or  that  it  relieved  the  foremen  of  all  their  cleri- 
cal labors ;  but  that  besides  these  and  above  all  other  advantages 
it  gave  the  foremen  an  assurance  that  good  work  done  cheaply 
would  be  known  as  such  and  that  a  method  was  provided  by  the 
certain  and  automatic  action  of  which  their  work  would  be 
surely  gauged. 

Foremen,  as  a  class,  are  necessarily  among  the  most  intelligent 
of  men  and  are  as  quick  as  any  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of 
a  good  tool.  Direct  methods  suit  them  best;  they  like  to  work 
as  a  dog  digs  a  hole,  disposing  immediately  of  present  necessities 
and  throwing  what  they  have  accomplished  behind  them,  out  of 
sight  and  mind.  They  do  better  and  more  trustworthy  work 
when  not  required  to  record  their  own  performances,  and  are  all 
the  better  able  to  appreciate  the  efforts  of  others  who  can  classify 
and  arrange  their  results  for  future  reference. 

Then,  besides,  clerks  and  storekeepers  were  relieved  from  the 
keeping  of  many  books,  books  which  for  evident  reasons  were 
very  imperfectly  kept  by  foremen  and  storekeepers,  and  which  if 
correctly  prepared  by  clerks  were  of  necessity  based  upon  the 
incorrect  data  given  by  the  others.  For  example,  how  expect 
books  to  be  accurately  kept  in  winter  time  in  storehouses  in  which 
fire  is  not  allowed? 

The  adoption  of  the  last  model  of  cards  did  away  with  the 
following  books  and  papers  kept  by  foremen : 

1.  Reports  of  fabrication. 

2.  Reports  of  material  returned  to  store. 

3.  Stock  books  of  all  kinds. 


30  INTRODUCTION. 

4.  Requisition  books  for  materials  to  be  purchased  or  to  be 

drawn  from  store. 

5.  All  time  books. 

6.  All  statements  of  costs. 
And  the  following  by  storekeepers : 

7.  "  Stock  "  day-books. 

8.  "  Material  "  day-books. 

9.  Stock  ledgers. 

10.  Memorandum  orders. 

11.  Teamsters'  receipts. 
And  the  following  by  clerks  : 

12.  Register  of  orders  of  supply, 

13.  Invoice  book. 

(As  an  illustration  of  what  this  amounted  to,  I  have  in  mind 
an  establishment  employing  not  many  more  than  lOO  men,  where 
the  books  required  to  transact  the  morning's  business  number  18 
and  weigh  about  60  lbs.  This  includes  only  those  carried  to  and 
from  the  office  more  or  less  every  day,  and  does  not  include  those 
kept  permanently  at  either  end  of  the  route.) 

,  A  few  books  on  the  ordinary  plan  of  Day-book,  Journal  and 
Ledger  were  added,  but  these  were  afterwards  abolished  by  Cap- 
tain Michaelis,  who  wisely  extended  the  principles  of  the  card 
system,  so  as  to  make  the  book  form  of  record  unnecessary. 
These  were  kept  by  the  Cost  Clerk,  a  new  creation. 

I  do  not  remember  that  any  new  books  were  added  to  those 
kept  by  the  other  clerks  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  by  the  use  of  the 
ledger  form,  devised  by  Mr.  Fries,  the  Stock  Clerk,  he  was 
enabled  to  deal  single-handed  with  the  enormous  variety  of 
material  on  hand  at  the  Arsenal,  embracing  thousands  of  different 
names.  This  had  previously  required  the  attention,  for  pro- 
longed periods,  of  about  two-thirds  of  the  clerical  force. 

The  Cost  Clerk  knew  nothing  of  the  shops  when  appointed  to 
them.  He  was  employed  at  $2.00  per  day,  and  had  two  boys, 
of  about  fourteen,  to  assist  him  in  keeping  the  accounts  and  tak- 
ing care  of  the  shop  store-room,  also  new.  This  force  was  cer^ 
tainly  insignificant,  compared  with  the  results  achieved,  particu' 


HISTORICAL,  21 

larly  so,  when  it  is  remembered  how  many  new  items  were  dealt 
with,  and  how  much  more  information  was  available  than  ever 
before. 

Owing  to  the  kindness  of  Colonel  J.  McAllister,  commanding 
Benicia  Arsenal,  I  have  been  allowed  to  apply  the  system  here. 
In  beginning,  where  everything  was  new,  I  was  forced  to  simplify 
and  reduce  the  work  as  much  as  possible,  for  I  had  most  of  it  to 
do  myself;  in  consequence,  when  I  got  a  helper,  I  was  able  to 
teach  him  his  duties  in  about  a  week's  time. 

The  comparatively  crude  means  adopted,  forming  the  basis  of 
the  improvements  hereafter  described,  have  worked  as  great  a 
change  as  at  Frankford.  The  foreman  has  no  books  to  keep,  and 
all  the  clerical  work,  much  more  than  formerly,  is  done  by  a 
soldier  who  is  employed  for  the  greater  part  of  his  time  as  a 
copyist  in  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper's  office. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  results  claimed  have  not  been 
achieved  at  a  sacrifice,  but  that  each  advance  in  expansion  and 
efficiency  has  been  accompanied  by  a  gain  in  simplicity  and 
directness. 

While  doing  this  work,  I  had  been  educating  myself  to  a  fuller 
comprehension  of  the  possibilities  of  the  system,  so  that,  start- 
ing to  explain  the  Frankford  system  as  I  had  left  it,  I  found  my 
subject  unsatisfactory,  and  discovered  creeping  in  exceptions 
and  inconsistencies  which  I  knew  would  be  confusing  to 
those  who  might  have  to  undertake  the  work  afresh.  I  soon 
determined  that  such  special  rules  were  but  a  sign  of  incom- 
plete investigation  and  that  the  necessity  for  them  must  be 
removed. 

In  consequence,  both  Time  and  Material  cards  were  revised. 
The  former  was  adapted  to  piece  work  as  well  as  to  time  work  by 
the  day  or  by  any  of  its  subdivisions,  and  also  to  rendering  an 
account  of  services  by  whomsoever  performed;  and  the  new 
Material  card  was  placed  in  such  accord  with  the  Ordnance 
Property  Regulations  that  it  sometimes  seems  their  latent  spirit. 
The  most  radical  change  lay  in  limiting  the  cards  to  a  single  entry 
each ;   this  simple  matter  led  to  most  important  consequences. 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

Every  transaction  with  material  that  could  be  imagined  has 
been  traced  to  its  conclusion  by  certain  uniform  rules,  every 
anomaly  being  considered  due  to  some  intrinsic  defect  in  the 
rules,  which  being  eliminated,  they  were  re-applied  until  further 
exceptions  seemed  impossible. 

These  rules  were : 

1.  To  reduce  all  writing  to  a  minimum  by  the  use  for  all  pur- 
poses of  the  same  general  kind  of  one  comprehensive  tabular 
form,  completed  by  a  simple  symbolic  notation  and  certified  by 
characteristic  punch  marks. 

2.  To  make  each  card  a  representative  unit,  capable  of  com- 
bination with  others,  according  to  any  one  or  more  of  their 
common  features  ;  thereby  attaining  by  the  mechanical  operation 
of  sorting,  the  results  otherwise  achieved  only  by  the  tardy  and 
laborious  processes  of  book-keeping. 

3.  To  avoid  transcij^ption  ^y  providing  that  the  same  card"  shall, 
be  dealt  with  by  as  many  consecutive  agents^as  require  it,  thereby 
saving  time  and  preventing  errors  in  copying. 

4.  For  the  preservation  of  the  cards  and  their  record  to  trust 
rather  to  their  equivalency  with  the  units  they  represent,  and  with 
which  they  are  convertible,  than  to  mere  rules  of  conduct  con- 
cerning their  employment ;  and  so,  by  depending  upon  the  cards 
for  all  the  temporary  purposes  for  which  books  are  now  employed, 
to  make  books  unnecessary  except  for  final  records. 

5.  To  disregard  the  number  of  cards  consumed  by  using  them 
singly  as  an  immediate  record  of  all  transactions  deemed  worthy 
of  note,  in  view  of  the  ultimate  saving  in  labor  and  the  absolute 
avoidance  of  confusion  due  to  their  unrestricted  employment  for 
such  purposes. 

6.  To  render  entirely  unnecessary  the  removal  to  the  work- 
shops or  storehouses  jof  any  records  or  correspondence  pertaining 
to  the  external  relations  of  the  arsenal. 

7.  To  make  the  cards  so  full  of  meaning  that  no  one  under- 
standing the  principles  on  which  they  were  based  could  ever  go 
amiss  in  using  them ;  that  no  special  rules  should  be  required  for 
special  cases,  but  that  the  part  of  each  user  should  be  fixed  by 


CRITICISM  OF  PRESENT  METHODS.  23 

evident  principles  of  general  application  :  in  a  word,  to  make  the 
cards  suffice  for  all  purposes  to  all  who  had  to  use  them. 

The  departures  from  the  letter  of  the  Regulations  arc  so  slight 
that  in  view  of  the  concluding  portion  of  par.  48,  Property  Regu- 
lations, 1877,  p.  14,  it  seems  not  unreasonable  to  hope  tljat  they 
may  be  condoned. 

The  principles  on  which  the  system  is  founded  are  so  broad 
that  though  it  may  fully  comply  with  every  precaution  required 
of  trustees  of  public  property,  it  seems  none  the  less  applicable 
to  the  smallest  shop  in  the  land.  But  it  would  not  be  necessary, 
nor  even  advisable,  to  follow  their  application  in  every  case  to  the 
extent  required  by  the  uses  of  the  Ordnance  Department.  How- 
ever far  this  may  be  done,  it  seems  pjain  to  me  that  the  results 
which  those  who  have  charge  of  workshops  seem  universally  to 
desire  can  be  attained  in  no  other  way  so  economically  as  by 
this  Mechanical  Book-keeping.  * 

It  'seem's  as  proper  for  a  refprmer  to  show  that  a  change  is 
needed  as  to  explain  the  changes  he  proposes  to  make  :  so  whole- 
some is  conservatism,  that  a  new'thing  should  not  only  be  shown 
to  be  good,  but  that  which  it  proposes  to  replace  should  be  proved 
to  be  relatively  bad.  I  have  been  forced,  therefore,  not  only  to 
criticize  much  in  our  present  methods  that  seemed  bad ;  but  I 
have  also,  for  want  of  other  sources  of  general  information,  been 
obliged  to  explain  that  which  I  criticized.  I  need  hardly  say 
that  my  only  object  has  been  to  make  evident  the  evils  from 
which  not  only  we  of  the  Ordnance  Department  have  been  suffer- 
ing, but  which,  in  some  form,  few  of  the  private  workshops  of 
my  acquaintance  have  escaped. 

Having  been  compelled  to  do  the  greater  part  of  this  work 
thousands  of  miles  away  from,  and  years  after  leaving  the  scenes 
and  circumstances  most  in  mind,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  many 
inaccuracies  will  be  found  in  my  statements  of  details.  Still  I 
believe  that  it  is  all  true  in  spirit,  if  not  of  all  of  the  places 
considered,  at  least  of  some  of  them.  It  is  hard  to  select  examples 
which  shall  be  typical  and  not  appear  invidious  or  exaggerated; 
but  I  have  done  my  best  to  make  sure  that  all  the  examples  shall 


TuNi  V  ::.rsitt! 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

be  at  least  possible  and  as  true  to  the  facts  as  my  own  memory 
and  the  concurrent  testimony  at  my  command  would  permit. 

The  use  of  cards  in  workshops  as  well  as  in  libraries,  is  no  new 
thing ;  others  besides  the  men  with  whom  I  have  worked  have 
been  driven  to  appreciate  their  advantages  and  have  turned  them 
to  more  or  less  account.  But  the  administration  of  private  work- 
shops is  in  general  limited  by  responsibilities  so  immediate  and 
self-contained,  that  I  doubt  whether  there  are  any  where  as  strict 
an  accounting  has  been  made  as  is  required  by  our  trusteeship 
of  public  property.  Indeed,  had  it  not  been  for  the  rigorous 
exactions  of  the  Ordnance  Regulations,  I  doubt  whether  I  would 
have  been  led  to  formulate  a  scheme  as  comprehensive  as  I  hope 
that  this  will  be  found.  It  is  their  spirit  which  has  led  me  through 
this  self-imposed  task,  and  it  is  in  extending  its  influence  that  I 
find  my  reward. 

I  have  to  thank  William  Sellers  &  Co.  of  Philadelphia  for 
suggesting  the  m.anner  of  distributing  miscellaneous  expenses 
and  the  use  of  the  ticket  punch  for  signatures ;  also  for  much 
information  and  encouragement,  the  details  of  which  have  escaped 
me.  Besides  those  whose  names  appear  in  the  body  of  the  report 
I  wish  particularly  to  thank  Lieut.  A.  H.  Russell,  of  the  Ordnance 
Department,  for  his  assistance,  and  Mr.  H.  T.  Fries,  Stock  Clerk 
at  Frankford  Arsenal,  to  whose  familiarity  Avith  existing  require- 
ments and  to  whose  zeal  in  meeting  them  I  am  under  obliga- 
tions which  it  is  difficult  to  express  and  impossible  to  repay. 

HENRY  METCALFE. 
Benicia  Arsenal,  California,  May,  1884. 

Postscript. —  A  change  of  station  to  Watervliet  Arsenal  has 
enabled  me  to  revise  the  MS.  prepared  in  California  by  the  light 
of  a  wider  experience. 


PART  II. 

DESCRIPTION  AND   CRITICISM   OF   PRESENT 

METHODS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRESENT  ORGANIZATION  OF  AN  ARSENAL. 


1 


ScJicdule  sJiowing  the  relations  of  the  principal  officers  and  em^ 
ployees  of  an  arsenal  as  at  present  organized. 

C  I.  Workman. 
I  2.         " 
I  3-  etc. 


Chief  of 
Ord- 
nance 
com- 
mands 

all  Arse- 
nals. 


Commanding 
Officer     o  f 

Arsenal Officer  in 

charze. 


I.  Master  Ar- 
morer   


1.  Foreman. 

2.  " 

3.  etc. 


2.  Cost  Clerk. 


Ordnance 
Storekeeper. 


I.  Storekeep-  f  Warehouses. 

ers \  Magazines, 

etc. 


2.  Stock  Clerk. 

We  have  first  the  Commanding  Officer,  who  represents  the 
proprietor  and  stands  for  the  arsenal  in  its  relations  with  the  out- 
side world. 

His  only  subordinate  distinctively  recognized  by  the  regula- 
tions as  charged  with  separate  responsibilities,  is  the  Ordnance 
Storekeeper.  He  is  supposed  to  have  charge  of  all  material  not 
in  use ;  to  receive  all  material,  whether  received  from  external  or 
internal  sources,  and  to  issue  it  only  on  the  written  order  of  the 
Commanding  Officer.  He  is  also  generally  the  paymaster,  dis- 
bursing on  similar  written  orders,  but  the  two  functions  are  not 
necessarily  combined  in  the  same  individual. 

So  important  are  deemed  his  duties  as  custodian,  that  the 
storekeeper  is  required  to  give  bonds,  except  when  tempo- 
rarily chosen  from  the  active  list  of  ordnance  officers  by  the 
Chief  of  Ordnance. 

The  table  illustrates  the  anomaly  of  his  position,  for  while 
subordinate  to  the  Commanding  Officer,  he  is  not  appointed  by 
him  and  is  only  discharged  from  his  responsibilities  by  the  ap- 
proval of  their  common  superior,  the  Chief  of  Ordnance.     As 


28  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

an  officer  he  is  an  inferior;  as  an  agent  he  is  an  equal  —  a  rela- 
tion which  is  as  hard  to  design  graphically  as  it  is  difficult  to 
describe. 

The  Ordnance  Storekeeper  appears  to  be  intended  as  a  sort  of 
check  on  the  Commanding  Officer,  just  as  in  primitive  societies 
two  or  more  officers  may  hold  different  keys  to  the  same  money 
chest ;  each  expenditure  requires  the  united  action  of  both  agents ; 
fraud  is  impossible  without  collusion. 

This  does  well  enough  when  the  agents  are  of  equal  powers ; 
but  the  precaution  is  apt  to  lead  to  confusion  when  one  of  the 
parties  is,  so  to  speak,  both  a  rival  and  a  superior  to  the  other. 

The  principle  of  co-ordinate  control  may,  however,  be  con- 
veniently applied  when  money  only  is  concerned,  even  under  the 
peculiar  relations  above  stated.  Such  transactions  may  be  delib- 
erate, for  the  certainty  of  payment  is,  to  the  creditor,  almost 
equivalent  to  the  actual  transfer  of  the  cash.  No  harm  is  done, 
no  clashing  of  interests  follows,  say,  a  day's  interval  between  the 
approval  of  a  voucher  by  the  Commanding  Officer,  and  its  pay- 
ment by  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper.  Transactions  with  money, 
too,  require  deliberation,  for  mistaken  payments  are  with  difficulty 
corrected. 

But  it  is  different  with  material.  Here,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
actual  delivery  of  the  material  in  the  shortest  possible  time  is 
often  important;  and  on  the  other  hand,  as  material  is  less  port- 
able than  cash,  so  may  errors  due  to  its  too  precipitate  expendi- 
ture be  more  readily  corrected,  if  a  way  of  determining  them 
readily  could  be  found. 

Administratively  speaking,  the  main  objection  to  a  dual  re- 
sponsibility such  as  has  been  described,  lies  in  the  conflicting 
interests  of  the  two  agents  in  question.  The  interests  of  the 
Commanding  Officer  tend  generally  to  his  getting  the  material 
he  needs  in  manufacturing  as  promptly  as  possible  from  the  store- 
house to  the  workshops.  Here  delay  works  harm,  and  his  own 
interests  suffer  if  he  permits  it. 

The  interests  of  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  are  directly  op- 
posed :   he  does  not  care  how  much  the  material  may  be  required 


ARSENAL  ORGANIZATION.  29 

elsewhere,  so  long  as  he  runs  no  risk  from  its  leaving  his  charge 
without  warrant. 

Now,  if  the  Commanding  Officer  were  a  permanent  fixture  in 
the  shops,  no  harm  would  result  in  practice,  for  whatever  his 
agents  needed  from  the  storekeeper,  he  could  procure.  But  he 
is  not  and  should  not  be  a  fixture.  The  mere  ordering  of  sup- 
plies from  store  is  too  small  a  matter  to  interfere  with  the  higher 
duties  of  his  office  :  he  should  be  as  little  confined  by  such  merely- 
clerical  duties,  and  as  free  to  give  at  all  times  to  all  portions  of 
his  command  the  active  supervision  which  any  of  it  may  require, 
as  if  no  such  person  as  the  storekeeper  existed. 

What  are  the  consequences  of  the  existing  dual  administra- 
tion? Strictly  speaking,  the  Commanding  Officer  should  only 
draw  exactly  what  material  he  requires  for  any  particular  pur- 
pose. If  he  needs  a  pound  of  bar  iron  to  make  a  forging,  a 
quart  of  oil  to  mix  some  paint,  he  must  draw  just  that  pound 
of  iron,  just  that  quart  of  oil,  and  no  more,  and  must  give  his 
written  order  for  it  in  each  case.  Of  course,  this  condition  is 
impossible,  so  that  in  practice  supplies  are  drawn  from  store  in 
bulk,  either  when  purchased  or  soon  after,  and,  as  a  means  of 
accounting  for  their  disappearance  from  the  accounts,  are  imme- 
diately "  expended  "  on  the  most  probable  objects :  no  other 
way  seems  possible.  The  portion  not  actually  consumed  is  kept 
in  the  shops  or  about  the  post  on  no  one's  papers :  it  may  be 
used,  wasted  or  stolen ;  no  one  can  ever  tell.  Practically  it  is 
used  for  miscellaneous  repairs  about  the  post,  until,  at  the  end 
of  the  fiscal  year,  if  a  proper  inventory  is  made,  it  is  taken  up 
on  the  papers  as  "  found  on  post,  in  excess  of  quantity  called 
for  by  the  return."  If  no  inventory  is  taken,  it  accumulates  until 
the  appearance  on  the  return  of  issues  of  material  of  which  none 
was  previously  reported  on  hand,  requires  either  the  adjustment 
of  the  papers  to  meet  this  special  case  or  the  taking  of  a  new 
inventory.  I  once  took  up  thus  about  4,000  pounds  of  bar  steel, 
worth  from  twenty- five  to  forty  cents  a  pound,  the  result  of 
years  of  "  expenditure,"  and  yet  we  were  constantly  buying  more. 

If  this  be  true  for  small  stores  like  steel,  oil,  tools,  etc.,  that 


30  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

may  be  handled,  how  much  more  true  is  it  of  bulky  stores  like 
lumber  and  coal?  No  pretense  can  be  made  of  drawing  these 
from  the  storehouse  as  required :  they  are  the  big  fish  breaking 
through  a  net,  which  only  serves  to  entangle  the  fishermen. 

Then,  the  question  of  properly  charging  material  so  expended 
in  bulk  is  an  embarrassing  one,  for  if  duly  charged  to  those  other 
jobs  on  which  it  is  actually  expended,  it  will  be  twice  "  expended," 
and  the  papers  would  show  that  more  was  used  than  was  received. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  it  were  charged  but  once  when  first  ex- 
pended, it  would  appear  that  some  fabrications  were  made 
without  material,  which  would  not  only  be  inaccurate,  but  would 
be  misleading  to  those  who  would  in  future  have  to  depend  upon 
such  acts  of  record.  The  effect  on  foremen  and  others  is  also 
bad.  They  often  say,  "  That  material  should  not  be  charged,  for 
it  has  already  been  paid  out  of  another  job,"  and  are  thus  led  to 
extravagance. 

The  only  alternative  seems  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  compro- 
mise, by  the  Commanding  Officer  ordering  from  store  in  bulk, 
such  supplies  as  may  be  needed  for  such  necessities  as  he  may 
be  able  to  anticipate.  But  this,  like  the  requirement  that  foremen 
shall  make  requisition  for  all  that  they  need  in  season  to  be  acted 
on  during  certain  office  hours,  is  an  inconvenient  provision,  and 
one  tending  to  defeat  the  very  purposes  of  organization.  Not 
every  want  can  be  anticipated  ;  so  that  when  out  of  office  hours 
a  want  arises,  how  is  it  to  be  met  ?  We  do  not  wish  to  make  the 
Commanding  Officer,  or  as  has  been  sometimes  done,  one  of  his 
subalterns,  a  prisoner  in  the  office,  so  as  to  have  him  ready  to 
act  upon  such  irregular  demands ;  we  do  not  wish  to  incur  the 
loss  and  delay  caused  by  making  the  foreman  wait  until  the  next 
office  hour;  we  do  not  wish  by  emptying  the  storehouse  into  the 
shop  to  do  away  with  its  important  function.  So  an  irregular 
measure  is  resorted  to :  the  material  is  taken  from  store,  subject 
to  the  future  approval  of  the  Commanding  Officer.  As  a  matter 
of  course  this  is  always  given.  He  has  might  as  well  as  reason 
on  his  side,  and  the  Storekeeper  has  very  properly  to  submit  to 
necessities  of  which  he  may  not  judge. 


ARSENAL  ORGANIZATION.  31 

But  the  track  of  these  irregular  transactions  is  not  ahvays 
kept,  and  as  the  Storekeeper  feels  that  his  rights  have  been  in- 
vaded, and  the  integrity  of  his  methods  violated  by  the  Com- 
manding Officer,  he  leaves  to  him  justly  enough  the  responsibility 
thus  assumed,  and  relies  upon  such  precedents  for  his  justifica- 
tion should  fault  be  found  with  the  correctness  of  his  accounts. 

A  system  based  upon  responsibilities  so  easily  abrogated  must 
abound  in  inconsistencies  and  in  the  end  be  only  delusive. 

It  will  be  seen  that  all  this  trouble  comes  from  following  out  a 
natural  supposition,  that  the  members  of  the  organization  are  like 
the  branches  of  a  tree  which  can  communicate  together  only 
through  the  parent  stem.  This  is  well  enough  for  fixed  objects 
like  trees,  but  for  moving  organizations,  constantly  running  a 
race  with  time,  it  will  not  suffice. 

To  preserve  that  harmony  of  action  which  is  the  essence  of 
good  administration,  all  communication  to  and  from  the  outside 
world  should  be  through  the  Commanding  Officer.  But  behind 
him,  in  the  internal  economy  of  the  establishment,  he  is  supported 
by  official  subordinates  over  whom  his  control  is  so  continuous 
and  absolute,  that  he  may,  not  only  safely,  but  to  his  advantage, 
permit  their  free  intercommunication ;  defining  clearly  the  scope 
of  each  one's  duties  and  holding  him  responsible  for  the  results 
of  their  performance.  Since  whatever  the  results  may  be,  they 
are  subject  to  his  immediate  correction  in  point  of  labor  misap- 
plied, and  as  to  material  misused,  it  does  not  pass  from  his  control. 

An  illustration  is  found  in  any  household ;  if  none  of  its  serv- 
ants were  permitted  to  assist  each  other  without  the  express 
orders  of  its  head,  the  head  of  the  house  would  become  an  upper 
servant,  and  in  case  of  his  absence  confusion  would  prevail.  In 
practice  it  is  invariably  found  necessary  while  requiring  all  orders 
and  purchases  concerning  the  outside  world  to  go  through  the 
master  of  the  house,  to  make  such  general  rules  as  to  permit  and 
require  the  co-operation  of  the  servants,  each  in  his  sphere  of 
duty,  in  executing  the  orders  of  the  common  head. 

So,  by  wisely  abstaining  from  the  constant  exercise  of  the  full 
powers  with  which  he  is  clothed,  and  by  not  identifying  himself 


32  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

with  any  one  department,  the  Commanding  Officer  becomes  the 
critic  of  them  all ;  but  a  critic  with  power  to  act,  which  is  more 
than  most  critics  have,  and  a  responsibility  to  meet,  which  the 
harmonious  action  of  his  command  enables  him  to  face  to  the 
best  of  his  individual  ability. 

No  commanding  officer  can  do  the  work  of  all  his  subordinates, 
but  he  may  so  systematize  their  labors  that,  while  he  need  not 
assume  the  work  of  any,  he  may  still  hold  each  accountable  for 
his  own  share.  If  he  confines  himself  to  working  where  his  work 
will  tell  the  most,  and  gives  others  the  same  chance,  he  cannot 
fail  to  find  their  interest  and  energy  increased  and  his  own  labor 
diminished  while  its  efficiency  is  largely  enhanced. 

To  assist  the  Commanding  Officer  in  the  active  management 
of  the  shops,  he  often  details  an  officer  to  superintend  them; 
he  is  known  herein  as  the  Officer  in  Charge.  As  has 
been  before  said,  this  officer  is  theoretically  the  inferior  of  one 
who  is  both  superior  and  co-ordinate  to  the  Ordnance  Store- 
keeper ;  practically,  he  and  the  storekeeper  are,  in  many  respects, 
co-ordinate  inferiors  to  a  common  head,  the  Commanding  Officer. 
Both  functions,  and  indeed  all  three,  may  be  united  in  the  same 
person ;  but  their  responsibilities  are  widely  different.  To 
illustrate,  I  would  say  that  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  is  the 
Commanding  Officer's  left  hand,  while  the  Officer  in  Charge  is 
the  Commanding  Officer's  right  hand.  The  left  hand  holds  the 
purse,  while  the  right  hand  disposes  of  the  treasure  it  contains; 
the  left  hand  holds  the  scabbard,  while  the  right  hand  draws  the 
sword ;  the  one  has  a  passive  charge,  the  other  an  active  duty. 

Granting  this,  which  is  no  idle  image,  it  follows  that  the  cus- 
tody of  all  the  material  of  the  Post,  not  in  use,  should  be  with 
the  Ordnance  Storekeeper ;  while  the  care  of  the  material  in  use, 
and  the  means  of  using  it,  should  be  with  the  Officer  in  Charge; 
each  acting  personally  or  by  deputy. 

The  Officer  in  Charge  has  for  his  deputies : 

I.  The  Master  Armorer,  or  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  the 
Master  Workman.     He  is  a  sort  of  permanent  lieutenant  to  the 


ARSENAL  ORGANIZATION.  33 

Officer  in  Charge,  co-ordinating  the  energies  of  the  foremen 
under  him,  and  in  his  superior's  absence  taking  his  place.  His 
special  practical  experience  is  joined  to  the  theoretical  knowledge 
of  the  Officer  in  Charge,  generally  with  the  happiest  results.  He 
also  serves  to  carry  matters  along  without  essential  change  until 
new  officers  in  charge  have  become  sufficiently  familiar  with  the 
work. 

2.  After  the  Master  Armorer  come  the  various  foremen  and 
the  workmen  under  them. 

3.  At  Frankford  Arsenal,  and  also  at  Benicia  Arsenal  since  the 
partial  application  of  this  system,  there  is  also  the  Cost  Clerk, 
with  such  assistants  as  he  may  require  to  make  out  the  factory 
records.  The  cost  clerk  belonging  so  intimately  to  the  shops,  may 
well  have  in  his  charge  the  store-room  attached  to  them. 

The  Ordnance  Storekeeper  has  beneath  him  various  assistant 
storekeepers  in  charge  of  the  magazines  and  warehouses,  and 
the  Stock  Clerk.  The  former  receive,  care  for  and  issue  all  stores 
and  supplies  ;  the  latter  keeps  the  records  of  the  office  as  regards 
material  passing  through  the  Storekeeper's  hands,  whether  re- 
ceived or  issued.  These  records  are  kept  in  the  form  of  the 
Property  Return  made  through  the  Commanding  Officer  to  the 
Chief  of  Ordnance. 

These  are  the  principal  agents  with  whom  this  paper  has  to 
deal ;  there  are  some  others  whose  duties  are  more  or  less  allied 
to  the  subjects  under  dis/:ussion,  as  the  chief  clerk  and  the  cash 
clerk ;   but  a  knowledge  of  their  functions  is  not  essential  here. 

3 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ARSENAL  BOOK-KEEPING. 


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ARSENAL  BOOK-KEEPING.  35 

Requirements  of  Arsenal  Book-keeping. 

An  arsenal  comprises  so  many  different  functions  that  it  is  well, 
before  going  further,  to  discuss  them  somewhat  in  detail.  For 
this  purpose  the  accompanying  table  serves  to  show  that  the 
arsenal  consists  of  two  distinct  departments  which  are  usually 
under  one  management,  although  nothing  but  convenience  re- 
quires them  to  be  so  combined. 

1.  As  a  manufactory,  it  requires  a  certain  record  of  all  orders 
for  fabrication,  with  a  prompt  and  accurate  return  of  their  com- 
pletion. Also,  a  ready  reference  to  work  in  hand,  so  that  a 
general  idea  of  its  duration  may  be  hid ;  and  a  ready  reference 
to  work  not  yet  begun,  so  that  labor  awaiting  employment  may 
be  at  once  directed  to  its  proper  object. 

It  requires  a  prompt  report  of  work  done  by  each  workman 
on  every  job,  both  so  that  he  men  be  duly  paid,  and  the  cost 
of  the  job  be  truly  ascertained.  As  a  manufactory  it  requires 
prompt  procurement  of  articles  required  from  the  outside  world  ; 
and  to  prevent  unnecessary  purchases,  a  full  knowledge  of  what 
is  on  hand  and  available  for  use. 

As  a  manufactory,  an  arsenal  may  also  have  certain  specialties 
or  staple  products  like  that  of  the  National  Armory  for  arms ; 
Frankford  Arsenal,  cartridges ;  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  leather 
work;  Watervliet  Arsenal,  gun  carriages;  to  which,  in  addition 
to  its  general  functions,  especial  attention  may  be  wisely  directed. 

But  like  every  other  factory,  beyond  and  above  all  these  re- 
quirements, because  embracing  them  all,  it  needs  a  knowledge 
of  the  true  cost  of  its  product.  This  is  what  establishes  the  rela- 
tion between  effort  and  effect,  between  promise  and  performance  ; 
it  is  the  balance  by  which  all  industrial  processes  are  weighed 
and  finally  valued. 

2.  In  its  relation  to  the  Military  power  an  arsenal  comprises, 
generally  speaking,  two  independent  functions :  first,  it  is  a  mili- 
tary post  garrisoned  by  troops  which  must  be  cared  for  like  any 
other  portion  of  the  army;  second,  it  is  a  magazine  for  arms 
and  munitions  of  war,  which  require  a  certain  force  to   receive 


36  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

and  issue  them,  and  to  overhaul  and  preserve  them  from  injury 
and  decay. 

These  troops  and  storehouses  require  a  large  amount  of  clerical 
labor  in  preparing  the  reports  and  estimates  demanded  by  the 
superior  military  authorities. 

In  its  external  relations  the  Arsenal  has  a  dual  responsibility: 
first,  to  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  for  the  general  management  of  its 
affairs  ;  and  second,  through  him  to  the  Treasury  for  its  disburse- 
ments. The  arsenal  is  required  to  furnish  the  Chief  of  Ordnance 
with  full  and  frequent  information  as  to  its  affairs,  as  a  factory, 
as  a  garrison,  and  as  a  magazine ;  so  that  through  him,  Congress 
and  the  people  may  know  how  the  public  money  has  been  spent, 
and  that  the  arsenal  may  be  best  prepared  to  meet  whatever  calls 
its  geographical  position  may  expose  it  to.  These  reports  relate 
to  the  progress  of  work  which  has  been  ordered,  and  to  its  cost ; 
to  the  condition  of  the  garrison ;  the  number  and  rating  of  the 
civil  employees,  and  to  the  quantities  of  each  special  kind  of 
material  received,  issued,  and  remaining  on  hand. 

The  magnitude  of  this  undertaking  may  be  imagined  when  it  is 
known  that  the  returns  of  most  large  arsenals  embrace  several 
thousand  kinds  of  material,  each  of  which  has  to  be  accounted 
for  under  its  own  name. 

As  to  the  disbursements,  the  arsenal  reports  to  the  Treasury, 
not  only  its  disbursements  in  bulk,  but  those  authorized  by  each 
appropriation  of  Congress.  The  Chief  of  Ordnance  similarly 
requires  accounts  to  be  kept  with  his  allotments  of  the  general 
appropriations  among  the  different  arsenals. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  book-keeping  covers  a  large  field :  the 
work  involved  may  be  imagined  by  any  one  who  has  seen  some 
large  business  turned  over  to  an  assignee,  to  be  managed  in  trust. 
Now,  the  management  of  an  arsenal  is  always  in  trust ;  but  it  is  a 
double  trust,  being  first  from  the  Treasury  to  the  Chief  of  Ord- 
nance, and  from  him  to  the  Commanding  Officer;  each  trustee 
has  another  to  watch  him. 

Where  the  accounts  assuming  and  discharging  this  grave 
responsibility  require  the  most  attention,  is  in  the  details  regard- 


ARSENAL  BOOK-KEEPING.  37 

ing  the  internal  economy  of  the  arsenal,  for  these  are  the  very 
source  and  origin  of  all  the  changes  which  require  the  rendition 
of  accounts. 

These  details  are  often  regarded  as  insignificant,  and  they  are 
perhaps  not  worthy  of  comparison  with  many  of  the  higher 
problems  with  Avhich  the  ordnance  officer  has  to  deal ;  but  for 
him  whose  duty  brings  him  close  to  them,  they  assume  a  great 
importance,  because  unless  they  are  properly  handled  they  take 
up  so  much  of  his  time  that  he  has  none  left  for  the  other  prob- 
lems ;  his  energy  is  wasted  in  constantly  repeated  efforts  to  do 
that  which  has  always  seemed  to  him  before,  must  somehow  be 
done  of  itself. 

This  work  of  collecting  data  to  serve  for  revising  tariffs  of 
piece  work,  for  the  preparation  of  estimates,  for  statements  of  the 
cost  of  finished  work  and  the  like,  has  seemed,  in  the  years  which 
I  have  served  in  and  about  Ordnance  workshops,  as  part  of  the 
unwelcome  price  I  had  to  pay  for  opportunities  elsewhere  enjoyed. 

"  They  order,"  said  I,  "  this  matter  better  in  France ;"  so  think- 
ing that  the  force  of  competition  had  stirred  private  manufactur- 
ers, at  least,  to  a  sense  of  its  importance,  I  made  inquiry  of 
such  as  came  in  my  way  with  the  purpose  of  finding  a  more 
simple  mode  of  reckoning  than  that  followed  in  the  Department, 
and  )'et  one  that  should  be  at  least  equally  exact. 

Except  in  the  workshops  of  Messrs.  William  Sellers  &  Co.,  I 
found  that  our  methods  did  not  suffer  by  comparison.  I  found 
several  establishments  in  which  methods  somewhat  similar  to 
those  herein  described  had  been  adopted,  but  none  that  I  now 
remember  in  which  they  had  been  carried  further  than  was 
required  for  merely  present  purposes.  A  loose  system  of  averaging 
results  seemed  to  be  the  rule,  leading  sometimes  to  selling 
machinery  by  the  pound,  and  at  others  to  simply  making  things 
as  cheaply  as  possible,  and  selling  them  at  the  market  price  with- 
out regard  to  the  fact  that  the  circumstances  of  the  shop  might 
make  sales  even  at  market  prices  detrimental  if  they  were  made 
at  a  loss. 

The   refuge   for  this  state  of  things  is  everywhere  sought  in 


38  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

piece  work;  but  this  supposes  cither  a  long  succession  of  orders 
of  the  same  kind  by  which  the  price  may  be  tentatively  deter- 
mined, or  a  knowledge  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  what  price  is 
the  fair  one  from  the  start.  Practically,  such  information  can 
only  be  obtained  by  a  comparison  with  similar  work  already  done, 
the  details  of  which  it  is  intended  by  this  system  to  preserve. 

Labor  and  Material. 
Although  the  cost  of  material  forms  such  a  small  part  of  that  of 
the  finished  product  of  our  workshops,  the  most  casual  inquirer 
is  struck  by  the  disproportionate  amount  of  time  and  money 
spent  upon  the  records  relating  to  material.  The  differences 
noted  hereafter  are  caused  by  differences  regarding  the  procuring, 
the  employment,  the  accounting  for,  and  the  relinquishment  of 
labor  and  material. 

Labor. 

In  regard  to  the  procurement  and  discharge  of  labor,  the 
utmost  simplicity  prevails ;  the  commanding  officer  hires  whom 
he  sees  fit,  for  as  long  as  it  may  be  expedient. 

The  responsibility  for  labor  engaged,  lies  solely  in  its  proper 
employment;  it  ceases  with  the  employment,  and  requires  for 
its  record  only  such  simple  accounts  as  may  satisfy  the  claims  of 
the  employed,  and  exhibit  the  distribution  of  their  time. 

Material. 

In  distinction  to  that  pertaining  to  labor,  the  responsibility  for 
material  involves  a  very  wide,  because  a  continuing,  responsibility. 
To  make  this  clearer,  let  me  explain  as  follows : 

Sufficient  labor  for  the  needs  of  the  workshop  is  supposed  to 
be  on  hand,  ready  for  such  direction  as  the  foreman  chooses  to 
give  it;  when  done,  it  is  accounted  for  in  lime,  charged  for  in 
dollars  and  cents,  paid  off,  and  the  matter  is  at  an  end.  Like 
gas,  when  no  longer  required,  the  supply  is  cut  off;  there  is  no 
waste,  no  remainder 

But  public  property  held  in  charge  is  a  trust,  for  which  an 
account  may  at  any  time  be  required.     Until  wholly  consumed. 


ARSENAL  BOOK-KEEPING.  39 

as  by  fire,  the  responsibility  for  material  never  ceases ;  it  may 
change  its  name,  as  by  fabrication,  but  it  still  deserves  to  be 
accounted  for  under  its  new  name.  How  this  is,  the  following  ex- 
amples will  show : 

Suppose  that  the  material  is  first  received  as  lead ;  in  due 
course  of  manufacture  it  becomes  bullets ;  the  bullets  lose  their 
identity  in  becoming  cartridges ;  these  may  be  fired,  converting 
the  bullets  into  scrap  lead  ;  and  finally,  this  being  melted  together 
with  that  resulting  from  the  operations  of  manufacture,  it  becomes 
once  more  pig  lead. 

So  with  oil  and  whiting,  which  with  labor  added  becomes  putty ; 
then  with  lumber,  screws,  nails  and  paint  added,  pass  into  the 
condition  of  boxes,  and  finally  disappear  as  packed  ammunition. 
The  same  is  true  of  lead  and  oil  passing  into  the  condition  of 
paint,  and  so  on. 

To  make  our  accounts  good  they  must  take  note  of  every  one 
of  these  changes,  for  it  may  be  cheaper  for  us  to  buy  our  putty, 
boxes,  etc.,  as  such,  instead  of  making  them  in  the  shops; — if 
so,  we  should  be  able  to  know  it.  The  growing  specialization 
of  small  industries  makes  just  such  questions  more  important 
every  day.  The  first  remark  of  the  travehng  salesman  is,  "We 
can  sell  you  those  things  at  a  profit,  for  less  than  it  costs  you  to 
make  them." 

We  now  see  what  is  meant  by  the  continuing  responsibility 
imposed  by  the  possession  of  material.  It  is  a  load  which  may  be 
shifted  under  different  names,  but  from  which  one  can  never  be 
wholly  relieved  until  it  is  consumed  as  by  fire  or  is  transferred 
to  another's  keeping. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  difference  in  the  treatment  of 
charges  for  labor  and  material,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  labor  is 
always  a  charge,  while  material  maybe  either  a  charge  or  a  credit 
to  some  account.  Thus  the  components  of  a  fabrication  are 
proper  charges  to  it,  but  if  diverted  to  another  product  must  be 
credited  to  balance  the  account. 

Furthermore,  material  should,  if  possible,  be  procured  by 
timely  contracts,  so  as  to  gain  the  advantage  following  the  com- 


40  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

petition  in  prices  between  dealers.  The  contracts  should  be  based 
upon  the  expectation  of  large  and  immediate  deliveries,  that  the 
fluctuations  of  the  market  need  not  be  allowed  for  by  an  increase 
of  price,  and  that  the  expenses  attending  numerous  small  deliveries 
may  be  avoided.  Yet,  these  matters  must  be  so  managed  that 
the  funds  be  not  drawn  upon  so  heavily  in  the  early  part  of  the 
season,  that  the  contingencies  to  which  all  manufactures  are  sub- 
ject will  be  unprovided  for.  Labor  requires  none  of  these  pre- 
cautions. 

When  received,  material  should  be  at  once  accounted  for,  and 
should  be  so  kept  that  all  expenditures  from  it  will  be  recorded, 
and  of  necessity  charged  to  some  account.  Yet,  at  the  same 
time,  the  material  must  be  so  accessible,  that  it  may  be  had  for 
proper  purposes  as  freely  as  in  any  private  workshop  in  the 
land. 

The  necessity  for  anticipating  the  want  of  material  and  for 
recording  the  results  of  its  procurement  and  use,  is  thus  seen  to 
be  accountable  for  the  relatively  great  portion  of  our  records 
that  it  occupies. 

I  imagine  that,  whether  heeded  or  not,  the  same  relations  exist 
in  all  workshops,  down  to  the  smallest  private  foundry,  in  which 
the  processes  are  the  fewest,  the  materials  the  crudest  and  the 
least  varied,  and  where  the  disposition  of  the  material  concerns 
no  one  but  the  proprietor. 

What  study  I  have  given  to  the  subject  convinces  me  that  a 
proper  treatment  of  material  is  the  key  to  success  in  those 
branches  of  administration  with  which  this  paper  has  to  deal ; 
with  that  well  settled,  everything  else  follows;  without  it,  no  sys- 
tem can  work  satisfactorily. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

a.  external  re  la  tlons. 

(property  accountability.) 

Definitions. 
Property  Returns. 

A  property  return  is  a  periodical  tabular  statement  with 
appended  vouchers,  of  all  recorded  transactions  with  public 
property  during  the  interval  of  time  to  which  it  belongs. 

There  are  two  returns  now  made,  one  by  the  Ordnance  Store- 
keeper, known  generally  as  the  Property  Return ;  and  one,  usu- 
ally much  more  restricted  in  its  scope,  made  by  the  Commanding 
Officer  and  known  as  the  Current  Service  Return.  The  following 
discussion  applies  particularly  to  the  Property  Return. 

As  to  the  actual  steps  to  be  followed  in  making  these  returns 
the  Regulations  are  not  explicit,  but  the  same  general  practice 
seems  to  be  followed  at  the  different  arsenals.  To  speak  as 
exactly  as  possible,  I  shall  refer  to  the  method  now  followed  at 
the  Benicia  Arsenal,  as  it  is  that  with  which  I  am  most  familiar, 
and  as  far  as  my  experience  goes,  a  fair  type  of  the  rest. 

Vouchers. 

Starting  from  the  base  of  the  pyramid  of  which  the 
Return  is  the  top,  we  find  a  large  number  of  individual  vouchers 
of  various  kinds,  which  are  the  first  written  evidences  of  the 
transactions  to  be  recorded.  They  can  all  be  divided  into  two 
general  classes,  viz.,   receipts  and  issues. 

Abstracts. 

In  the  extended  transactions  of  an  arsenal  the  individual 
receipts    and    issues    are   so   numerous,   that,  to  facilitate    their 


42  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

examination,  those  of  like  nature  are  grouped  together  into 
"  abstracts."  The  form  of  these  abstracts  varies  according  as 
they  relate  to  transactions  witli  one,  or  with  more  than  one, 
person  or  purpose.  They  may  thence  be  called  single  or  double 
abstracts  respectively. 

A  single  abstract  is  a  mere  classified  hst  of  names.  A  double 
abstract  in  one  in  which  both  names*  and  agenciesf  are  classi- 
fied, the  names  generally  in  the  top  horizontal  row,  and  the 
agencies  in  the  first  vertical  column,  p.  46.  To  borrow  an 
illustration  from  geometry,  a  voucher  may  be  said  to  correspond 
to  a  single  point;  a  single  abstract  to  correspond  to  a  line  made 
up  of  points,  and  to  be  a  paper  of  one  dimension ;  and  a  double 
abstract  to  correspond  to  a  surface  determined  by  co-ordinate 
lines,  and  to  be  a  paper  of  two  dimensions.  It  is  as  hard  to 
conceive  of  an  abstract  classifying  information  as  to  more  than 
two  headings  at  once,  as  it  is  to  conceive  of  a  surface  of  three 
dimensions  or  of  a  space  of  four.  Any  attempts  to  make  an 
abstract  serve  such  alien  purposes  can  only  prove  useless  or 
confusing. 

Material. 

By  material  I  shall  mean  all  property  dealt  with,  whether  so- 
called  "raw,"  or  in  the  form  of  Ordnance  Stores  complete  for 
issue,  or  incomplete. 

Nomenclature  and  Classification  of  Material. 

Nomenclature. 

Inasmuch  as  the  names  on  the  return  represent  in  a  peculiarly 
strict  sense  the  articles  to  which  they  belong,  it  is  essential  in 
all  official  papers  that  the  names  of  material  be  correctly  given. 

An  extended  nomenclature,  found  in  the  Property  Regulations, 
pp.  180-227,  assists  in  giving  to  the  same  objects  invariable 
names ;    although  embracing  some  7,000  names,  it  is  of  course 

*  Names. 

By  names,  I  sliall  mean  the  ofTicial  names  of  the  material  concerned, 
t  Agencies. 

For  want  of  a  better  term,  I  shall  call  the  persons  or  purposes  involved  "agencies." 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


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EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  43 

incomplete,  but  it  affords  an  excellent  frame-work  for  the  placing 
of  such  new  names  as  practice  constantly  requires. 

Classification. 

To  avoid  as  far  as  possible  the  consequences  of  error  in  nam- 
ing material  and  for  convenience  of  reference  these  names  are 
classified  as  follows : 

1.  The  names  are  placed  in  Part  I,  or  in  Part  II  of  the  Return, 
according  as  they  refer  to  stores  completed,  or  to  the  raw  materials, 
tools,  etc.,  required  in  their  production. 

2.  The  names  in  each  part  are  grouped  together  in  similar 
"classes,"  and  the  names  in  each  class  are  arranged  alphabetically 
according  to  their  distinctive  or  family  names.  Thus  bradawls  are 
called  "  awls,  brad,"  etc.  The  effect  of  this  is  to  bring  all  the 
awls,  whether  armorers',  brad,  pad,  saddlers',  seat,  stocking  or 
strap,  together  on  the  return;  making  the  aggregate  result  as  to 
the  awl  family  correct,  however  this  aggregate  may  be  actually 
distributed  among  the  varieties  named.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
awls  also  find  their  way  into  the  tool  class,  so  that  if  some  should 
happen  to  be  called,  say,  "  scribers,"  the  mistake  could  the  more 
easily  be  found  and  corrected. 

3.  A  further  classification  of  names  according  to  the  condition 
of  the  material  is  often  required:  this  is  generally  made  by  notes 
appended  to  the  names,  or  by  the  use  of  colored  ink.  Accord- 
ing to  this  requirement  material  may  be  divided  as  follows: 

{New. 
Cleaned  and  repaired. 


Material. 


1st  class  ;  Worn  but  whole. 

^Unserviceable <|  2d       "       Parts  missing. 

,3d       "       Irreparable. 

The  classification  is  carried  out  as  fully  as  above  described 
only  for  arms  advertised  for  sale ;  for  other  material  the  Property 
Return  only  concerns  itself  with  the  difference  between  service- 
able and  unserviceable  material. 


44  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

Classes  of  Parts  I  and  II. 

Names  forming  Part  I  of  the  Property  Return,  comprising 
Ordnance  and  Ordnance  Stores  for  issue,  are  divided  into  ten 
general  classes,  as  follows  : 

Ordnance  and  Ordnance  Stores. 

1.  Cannon. 

2.  Carriages. 

3.  Artillery  implements. 

4  and  5.  Artillery  projectiles  partly    or    fully    prepared    for 
service. 

6.  Small  arms. 

7.  Leather  vi^ork  and  accoutrements. 

8.  Ammunition. 

9.  Miscellaneous  articles  for  army  use. 
10.  Parts  of  the  above. 

Part  II  of  the  Return  embraces  all  stores  which  properly  come 
under  the  head  of  materials,  machines,  tools,  animals,  etc. 
These  are  classified  as  follows,  the  classes  being  distinguished 
herein  from  those  of  Part  I,  by  using  letters  instead  of  numbers 
in  referring  to  them. 

Materials,  etc. 

A.  Cloth,  rope,  etc. 

B.  Forage. 

C.  Ironmongery,  etc. 

D.  Leather,  etc. 

E.  Lumber  and  building  materials. 

F.  Material  for  heating,  lighting,  polishing  and  cleaning. 

G.  Material  for  office  use. 

H.    Material  for  laboratory  use. 
I.    Paints,  oils,  dyes,  etc. 
K.    Miscellaneous. 

X.   Machines  and  parts  of  same. 
Y.    Inspecting  instruments. 
Z.   Tools  and  utensils. 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


45 


Abstracts. 

To  distinguish  the  abstracts  they  are  either  lettered  or  num- 
bered, according  as  they  refer  to  receipts  or  issues :  see  table 
following,  and  also  in  chap.  X. 

The  abstracts  are  attested  as  follows :  A,  i  and  2  being  based 
on  invoices  and  receipts  signed  by  other  parties  outside  the 
Arsenal,  are  signed  by  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper.  But  all 
the  other  abstracts,  dealing  as  they  do,  except  abstract  C,  with 
the  internal  affairs  of  the  Arsenal,  are  signed  by  the  Commanding 
Officer. 

Abstracts  of  Receipt. 


Designation. 

Received  from. 

Form. 

Signed BY 

A 

Army,  Forts,  etc 

Double.... 

Single 

Double.... 
Single 

Single 

O.  S.  K. 

B 

Fabrications 

C.  0. 

C 

Purchases 

C.  O. 

D 

Transfers  between  classes,  etc 

Current  service,  and  from  taking 
up  articles  found  on  post  in  ex- 
cess of  return 

C.  O. 

E 

C.  O. 

Abstracts  of  Issue. 

Designation. 

Issued  to,  or  for. 

Form. 

Signed  by. 

I 

Army,  forts,  etc 

Double.... 
Double.... 
Double.... 
Single 

Double.... 
Single 

O.  S.  K. 

Militia 

0.  S.  K. 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Sales 

C.  O. 

Dropped  from  return 

C.  O. 

Expenditures  as  in  fabrication,  and 

issues  to  the  current  service  return 

Transfers  between  classes,  etc 

C.  O. 
C.  O. 

Agencies. 
In  the  double  abstracts,  A,  C,  i,  2,  3,  the  agencies  are  the  offi- 
cers,   forts,    firms,    states,   etc.,   whose   accompanying  vouchers, 
arranged  in  chronological  sequence,  are  referred  to  by  their  num- 


46  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

bers  in  the  margin  of  the  abstract.  In  abstract  5,  which  has  no 
vouchers,  it  is  the  custom  to  distribute  the  expenditures  among 
the  following  agencies : 

1.  In  experimental  firing  and  salutes. 

2.  In  making  small  arm  ammunition. 

3.  In  repairs  and  preservation  of  Post. 

4.  In  fabrication,  repair  and  preservation  of  stores. 

5.  In  running  steam  engine,  repairing  tools  and  machinery. 

6.  In  office  duties  and  lighting  of  Post. 

7.  On  account  of  public  animals,  and  repairs  of  wagons,  carts 
and  harness. 

8.  In  erection,  repair  and  preservation  of  public  buildings. 

9.  In  repair  and  preservation  of  armament  of  forts. 

10.  In  repair  and  preservation  of  field  and  siege  carriages,  and 
Ordnance  stores. 

11.  In  fixing  cannon  ammunition. 

12.  Issued  for  current  service  at  the  Post. 

These  agencies  occupy  the  first  left-hand  column  of  the  abstract ; 
so  that  the  names  of  the  material  expended  on  them  being  in- 
scribed on  the  top  line,  the  quantities  which  will  be  found  at  the 
intersection  of  each  line  and  column  will  show  the  quantity  of 
each  material  expended  for  each  particular  purpose.  The  footings 
of  the  columns  give  the  total  quantity  of  each  kind  of  material 
expended,  irrespective  of  the  agency  to  which  it  was  applied. 

Vouchers. 

Vouchers  should  always  bear  the  signature  of  some  other  per- 
son than  that  of  the  officer  making  the  return. 

Thus,  his  evidences  of  receipt  are  the  invoices  which  he  receives 
from  consignors  of  material,  and  his  evidences  of  issue  are  the 
receipts  of  those  to  whom  he  consigns  it. 

The  vouchers  belonging  to  abstracts  A,  C,  i,  2,  3,  4,  are 
evidently  external  to  the  economy  of  the  arsenal,  and  explain 
themselves  by  the  signature  of  the  other  party  to  the  transfer  of 
property  recorded.  So,  in  his  dealings  with  the  Commanding 
Officer,  the  Ordnance    Storekeeper's    vouchers   are  the  former's 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  47 

invoices  and  receipts  ;  these,  to  save  the  multiplication  of  papers, 
are  generally  given  in  bulk,  in  the  form  of  certain  quarterly- 
abstracts  signed  by  the  Commanding  Officer. 

Vouchers  belonging  to  the  abstract  of  expenditures  (5),  and 
to  all  the  single  abstracts,  belong  to  the  internal  economy  of  the 
arsenal,  and  are  explained  in  full  only  by  such  records  as  the 
Commanding  Officer  may  choose  to  keep.  These  are  generally 
as  follows :  Abstract  B  is  based  on  the  monthly  reports  of  fabri- 
cation and  other  work  done  ;  and  the  other  abstracts  are  compiled 
from  the  remarks  on  various  requisition  books,  store  books  and 
vouchers,  showing  the  purpose  or  nature  of  the  transactions  they 
record. 

Compilation  of  Abstracts. 

1.  The  single  abstracts  are  consolidated  from  the  individual 
vouchers  by  any  convenient  arrangement  that  the  clerk  may 
devise ;  generally  a  rough  list  of  names  arranged  by  interpola- 
tion in  approximately  alphabetical  order  is  made  from  the 
vouchers,  and  the  corresponding  quantities  entered  opposite  the 
names  from  the  vouchers  in  turn.  The  names  and  the  total 
quantities,  when  fairly  copied,  form  the  abstract  required. 

2.  The  double  abstracts  are  generally  made  up  from  the 
vouchers  whose  serial  numbers  appear  in  the  column  next  to  that 
containing  the  agencies. 

The  preparation  of  a  double  abstract  is  a  comparatively  easy 
matter  if  the  vouchers  on  which  it  is  based  have  their  items 
arranged  in  the  regular  sequence  of  names. 

It  is  first  required  to  compile  from  the  different  vouchers  a 
classified  list  of  all  the  names  of  material  which  they  contain. 
This  is  the  most  difficult  and  important  part  of  the  task,  for  on  its 
accuracy  and  completeness  all  the  rest  depends.  After  transcrib- 
ing this  list  on  the  head  line  of  the  abstract  which  is  reserved  for 
names,  the  insertion  of  the  quantities  under  each  name  by  trans- 
fer from  the  vouchers  follows. 

But  if  the  names  on  the  vouchers  have  not  been  classified,  great 
trouble  results,  for  in  transcribing  the  names  from  the  vouchers 


48  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

to  the  abstract  the  clerk  has  to  skip  from  one  part  of  it  to  the 
other  and  between  classes  in  the  same  part,  with  much  loss  of  time 
and  great  liability  to  error.  Also  in  making  the  classified  list  of 
names,  confusion  is  apt  to  follow  the  omission  or  misplacing  of  any 
of  them  ;  for  the  whole  arrangement  depending  on  the  regular 
sequence  of  the  names,  an  omission  in  the  order  is  equivalent  to 
an  admission  that  the  name  omitted  does  not  appear  elsewhere. 
The  case  resembles  that  of  a  dictionary  or  city  directory. 

If  we  had  a  form  of  abstract  comprising  the  name  of  every 
material  dealt  with  as  is  the  case  with  many  of  the  abstracts  of  the 
Quartermaster's  and  Commissary  Departments,  this  trouble  would 
be  avoided ;  but  the  great  variety  of  material  handled  by  the 
Ordnance  Department  renders  such  an  arrangement  impossible. 

Preparation  of  Return. 

The  quarterly  abstracts  A,  B,  C,  i,  2,  3,  etc.,  having  been  pre- 
pared as  specified,  are  consolidated  into  the  annual  abstracts  A, 
B,  C,  etc.,  p.  II.  These  annual  abstracts  are  further  consolidated 
into  annual  statements  of  receipts  and  issues,  respectively :  the 
former  bears  the  designation  of  the  annual  abstracts  of  receipt 
(lettered  abstracts)  in  the  column  of  agencies  ;  and  the  latter  that 
of  the  annual  abstracts  of  issue  (numbered  abstracts).  These 
two  statements  thus  give  the  total  quantity  of  each  item  named 
which  was  received  or  issued  during  the  year. 

The  return  is  now  made  up  by  adding  to  the  quantities  reported 
on  hand  by  the  last  return,  the  quantities  shown  by  the  annual 
statement  of  receipts  as  having  been  since  received ;  thus  giving 
the  total  quantity  to  be  accounted  for.  From  this  is  deducted 
the  quantities  shown  by  the  annual  statement  of  issues  as  having 
been  issued  since  the  last  return;  thus  leaving  a  total  remaining 
on  hand  to  be  accounted  for. 

Since  the  return  distinguishes  between  serviceable  and  un- 
serviceable material  of  the  same  name,  both  its  scope  and  the 
labor  required  in  preparing  it  may  be  very  greatly  increased. 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  49 

Criticisms. 
Abstract  of  Purchases,  C. 

Abstract  C,  which  is  made  up  from  the  cash  vouchers,  is  signed 
by  the  Commanding  Officer  as  a  sort  of  consohdated  invoice  of 
all  the  material  which  he  has  bought  during  the  past  quarter, 
whether  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  has  actually  handled  it  or  not. 

From  this  arises  a  sort  of  constructive  receipt  on  the  latter's 
part,  imposing  a  responsibility  often  assumed  after  the  material 
for  which  he  receipts  has  been  consumed.  His  willingness  to 
accept  the  responsibility  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  it  is 
generally  immediately  discharged  by  the  simultaneous  expendi- 
ture of  the  material  in  question  ;  his  function  has  then  been  merely 
a  clerical  one,  in  recording  the  acts  of  the  Commanding  Officer. 
If  some  equally  convenient  way  were  found,  I  doubt  whether  such 
irregular  transactions  would  be  required. 

The  following  objections  present  themselves  to  thus  mixing  the 
accountabilities  for  cash  and  property: 

I.  By  taking  the  evidence  of  purchase  as  the  sole  evidence  of 
receipt,  we  deprive  ourselves  of  several  aids  to  correct  accounta- 
bility; for  a  receipted  cash  voucher,  say,  for  material  purchased, 
is  in  reality  only  evidence  as  to  the  satisfaction  of  so  much  of 
the  creditor's  claim  against  the  government;  it  is  only  secon- 
dary evidence  as  to  the  items  of  material  actually  transferred  to 
the  debit  account  of  the  purchaser. 

The  primary  evidence  as  to  what  items  were  really  bought  is 
found  in  the  fly,  or  firm  bill,  which  usually  accompanies  the 
goods  purchased,  and  which  acts,  therefore,  both  as  an  invoice 
as  to  items  and  as  a  demand  for  their  equivalent  in  money.  But 
in  practice  this  primary  evidence  is  lost  to  sight  as  soon  as  it  has 
served  the  merely  local  purpose  of  furnishing  the  information 
required  for  the  preparation  of  the  cash  voucher. 

After  the  cash  voucher  is  so  prepared,  it  is  sent  to  the  creditor 
with  a  cheque.  But  his  responsibility  for  the  correctness  of  the 
items  on  the  voucher  having  been  impaired  by  their  handling  by 
the  purchaser,  he  is  naturally  only  concerned  with  getting  the 
value  originally  demanded,  having  received  which,  he  signs  the 
4 


50  FRESENT  SYSTEM. 

receipt,  and  thus  completes  the  evidence  upon  which  all  subse- 
quent accounts  are  founded. 

Few  creditors  would  feel  bound  to  correct  any  errors  as  to  the 
items  of  such  an  account,  provided  they  themselves  received 
their  due;  so  that,  practically,  the  whole  matter  is  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  purchasing  officer.  If  an  unscrupulous  person, 
he  may  buy  a  coat  and  call  it  candles,  and  no  one  need  be  the 
wiser,  particularly  since  the  candles  are,  for  the  reasons  stated, 
"  expended "  as  soon  as  they  are  received,  and,  what  is  more, 
are  expended  without  increasing  the  expense  of  anything  in 
particular. 

It  is  easily  seen  that  this  practice  is  opposed  to  the  essence  of 
accountability,  which  receives  no  statement  unsupported  by  such 
independent  testimony  as  the  requirements  of  practice  permit. 

2.  The  defenseless  position  of  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  is  also 
worthy  of  note ;  for  if,  from  any  reason,  say  the  relief  or  death 
of  the  Commanding  Officer,  or  from  some  of  the  disagreements 
to  which  all  organizations  are  subject,  the  Commanding  Officer 
should  fail  to  sign  the  quarterly  Abstract  of  expenditures,  the 
Ordnance  Storekeeper  would  be  left  badly  in  the  lurch  ;  for  while 
the  cash  papers  imposing  the  responsibility  are  made  out  monthly, 
the  abstracts  discharging  it  are  quarterly  papers.  A  similar  case 
often  happens  in  practice.  Since  purchases  are  "  taken  up"  as  a 
consequence  of  their  purchase,  but  are  only  dropped  or  "  ex- 
pended "  from  the  Return  after  having  been  drawn  from  store  by 
the  written  order  of  the  Commanding  Officer,  it  happens  that 
bulky  articles  like  coal  and  building  materials,  which  never  actually 
pass  under  the  Storekeeper's  control,  are  often  consumed  on  their 
arrival  without  any  note  being  made  on  the  store  book  that  would 
lead  to  their  expenditure  on  paper.  Consequently,  the  end  of 
the  year  finds  the  Storekeeper  with  a  large  amount  ot  material 
charged  against  him,  but  which  has  disappeared  from  view. 
Whatever  statements  may  then  be  made  as  to  the  objects  on  which 
it  was  expended  must  depend  upon  memory  alone,  and  be  largely 
conjectural. 

3.  Another  trouble  results  from  this  mixing  of  property  and 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  51 

cash  papers.  It  is  axiomatic  that  material  should  not  be  paid  for 
until  received  ;  but  the  converse  of  the  proposition  docs  not  hold, 
for  all  material  must  be  received  before  it  is  paid  for.  How  long 
it  is  received  in  fact,  before  it  is  "  received  "  on  the  cash  vouchers, 
depends  upon  a  great  many  contingencies.  At  this  arsenal,  owing 
to  the  necessity  of  sending  certificates  of  inspection  to  Wash- 
ington for  approval,  at  least  two  weeks  must  elapse.  On  con- 
tracts on  which  no  payment  is  made  until  completion,  many 
months  may  pass. 

Delays  due  to  the  time  consumed  in  transmitting  funds  and  in 
making  out  the  necessary  papers  also  intervene,  so  as  to  separate 
still  further  the  actual  from  the  constructive  receipt.  This  often 
requires  a  separate  abstract  to  be  made  of  materials  received, 
but  not  paid  for. 

This  involves  not  only  a  radical  departure  from  the  established 
rule  already  described,  but  of  necessity  the  searching  of  an 
entirely  different  set  of  records,  for  the  cash  vouchers  not  fur- 
nishing the  information  required,  it  must  be  sought  in  the  books 
showing  the  receipts  into  store.  Now,  since  these  have  all  to  be 
gone  over  for  this  extraordinary  purpose,  the  question  arises, 
whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  keep  the  accounts  in  the  first 
instance,  so  that  the  quantities  "  received  "  should  be  based  upon 
receipts  solely,  and  not  partly  on  purchases  and  partly  on 
receipts. 

4.  Since  stores  may  not  be  taken  up  until  paid  for,  but  are 
often  needed  for  use  or  issue  as  soon  as  they  are  received,  it  may 
easily  happen  that  material  procured  at  the  end  of  one  year  may 
be  issued,  say  to  another  post,  on  the  return  of  that  year,  but  not 
be  acknowledged  as  a  purchase  for  a  year  after.  When  this 
happens  with  a  new  material,  or  when  more  of  a  given  material 
has  been  issued  than  was  reported  on  hand,  the  result  is  anomalous, 
if  not  confusing.  But  this  is  not  all ;  it  leads  to  delaying  the  issues 
to  prevent  such  a  result,  or  to  keeping  back  in  an  irregular  way 
the  papers  explaining  them 

5.  As  another  illustration  of  the  impolicy  of  making  a  receipt 
necessarily  depend  upon  a  purchase,  let  us  take  the  case  of  troops 


52  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

supplied  from  a  given  arsenal,  but  so  situated  as  to  make  the 
transportation  of  bulky  material  a  troublesome  and  expensive 
matter.  Let  us  take  Fort  Gaston  in  the  forests  covering  the 
northern  part  of  California  as  in  want  of  scantling  for  making 
targets,  or  the  Light  Battery  stationed  at  the  Presidio  as  in  want 
of  coal,  as  examples,  both  being  supplied  from  this,  Benicia, 
Arsenal. 

In  these  cases  the  regulations  present  the  following  dilemma: 

A.  To  buy  the  material  in  San  Francisco,  pay  for  its  transpor- 
tation to  the  Arsenal,  and  then  immediately  reship  it  to  its  desti- 
nation, possibly  within  sight  of  the  spot  from  which  it  originally 
came ;    or 

B.  To  let  the  requiring  officer  select  what  material  he  wants, 
to  pay  the  bill  approved  by  him,  and  then  by  fictitious  entries  on 
the  Return  assume  and  discharge  a  responsibility  which  has 
never  existed  in  fact.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  of  these  alterna- 
tives is  to  be  preferred. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  purchases  and  receipts  were  dealt 
with  separately,  one  being  a  cash  paper  and  the  other  a  property 
paper,  like  abstracts  A  and  D  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department, 
such  a  transaction  would  be  perfectly  plain  and  straightforward. 
The  purchase  at  the  Arsenal  would  be  explained,  if  necessary,  by 
reference  to  the  obligation  assumed  by  the  requiring  officer  on 
his  own  property  return.  Then  the  regulations  would  cease  to 
be  obstructive  to  natural  methods,  but  would  properly  fulfill  their 
true  functions,  by  directing  all  proper  actions  to  sure  and  speedy 
ends. 

These  objections  are  in  part  modified  by  the  present  method 
of  making  payments  on  "  certificates  of  inspection,"  explained 
chap.  XV ;  but  the  difference  is  only  of  degree.  The  payment  is 
not  made  now  until  approved  by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  nor 
does  he  approve  it  until  the  receipt  of  the  material  has  been 
acknowledged  by  the  signature  of  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper. 
But  in  practice  the  latter  is  often  obliged  to  sign  for  things  of 
which  he  has  never  had  personal  knowledge  or  control.  His 
attention  is  not  necessarily  called  to  them  until  long  after  they 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  S3 

have  been  consumed,  until,  in  fact,  it  becomes  necessary  or  con- 
venient to  make  out  the  accounts. 

The  Storekeeper  will  be  wise,  then,  not  to  sign  tintil  the  pre- 
ceding signatures  have  been  completed,  for  by  par.  6^,  Ordnance 
Regulations,  the  Inspector  is  the  agent  of  the  Commanding  Offi- 
cer, if  he  be  not,  as  he  sometimes  is,  the  Commanding  Officer 
himself. 

In  any  case,  the  acknowledgment  of  receipt  of  material  by  an 
employee  or  subordinate  is  not  conclusive  when  such  independ- 
ent testimony  as  the  invoice  given  by  the  fly  bill  of  the  dealer 
can  be  obtained. 

Abstract  of  Sales,  3. 
Turning  to  the  parallel  abstract,  that  of  sales,  we  find  occasion 
for  the  same  uncertainty ;    although,  as  the  government  does  not 
give  the  credit  which  it  requires  of  private  individuals,  the  mis- 
chief is  less  felt. 

Abstracts  relating  to  the  Ciirrent  Service  Return,  abstracts  5  and E. 

Turning  to  these  abstracts  on  page  45,  it  will  be  observed  as 
a  significant  fact,  that  so  little  is  property  once  put  into  current 
service  expected  to  be  returned  to  store,  that  issues  of  it  for  that 
purpose  are  grouped  with  such  expenditures  as  those  of  powder 
for  firing  salutes,  of  forage,  and  of  material  consumed  in  manu- 
factures of  different  kinds.  Receipts  from  current  service  by 
the  Storekeeper  are  also  classed  with  unexpected  "finds"  of 
property  about  the  post. 

With  a  proper  system  it  would  be  quite  as  easy  to  return 
property  to  store  for  safe-keeping  as  to  draw  it  from  store  for 
use ;  and  whether  in  store  or  without,  its  accountability  would 
be  maintained. 

Anmial  Property  Return. 

To  diminish  the  size  of  the  abstracts  and  for  other  reasons,  it 

is  not  unusual  to  discontinue  purchases  and  issues  for  a  week  or 

so  toward  the  end  of  the  year.     Notwithstanding  this  aid  to  the 

accountant,  by  which  he  can  only  profit  at  the  expense  of  other 


54  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

equally  important  agencies,  the  papers  arc  so  voluminous  that 
sixty  days  after  the  expiration  of  the  year  are  allowed  for  their 
completion. 

Assuming  their  correctness  and  their  completion  in  season, 
what  is  the  net  result  of  the  labor  they  require? 

I  would  reply,  a  schedule  which  is  true  but  once  a  year,  and 
which  then  only  refers  to  what  existed  two  months  before.  As 
a  periodical  reckoning  it  may  have  value ;  as  an  actual  exhibit 
it  is  of  no  account. 

When  the  ever-recurring  question  comes — "  How  much  of  this 
have  we  on  hand?  "  who  ever  thinks  of  consulting  the  last  return, 
and  of  summing  up  the  various  transactions  which  have  since 
affected  its  showing?  In  practice,  it  is  easier  and  quite  as  accu- 
rate to  go  to  the  storehouse  and  make  a  count,  or  else  to  rely  on 
the  memory  of  the  assistant  storekeeper  for  the  information 
required. 

Inventory. 
It  is,  I  presume,  on  account  of  this  well-grounded  want  of  con- 
fidence in  the  property  return,  that  the  inventory  is  taken. 
Except  at  small  establishments,  unless  the  inventory  were  com- 
piled from  the  very  return  it  is  intended  to  check,  even  the  two 
months  allowed  would  hardly  suffice,  without  causing  grave 
interruption  to  the  more  serious  business  of  the  post.  It  thus 
serves,  practically,  as  a  second  return,  no  better  than  the  last; 
and,  except  that  it  has  no  vouchers,  no  worse. 

(Note. — It  took  l8  men  six  months  to  make  an  accurate  inventory  of  the  public 
property  at  Benicia  Arsenal,  when  the  command  was  transferred  from  Captain  Mc- 
Allister to  Colonel  Wainwright,  in  1864.) 

Current  Service  Return. 

(See  par.  3,  64  and  87,  Ordnance  Regulations,  and  Ordnance  Property  Regulations, 

chap.  I.) 

This  return,  although  probably  intended  to  be  made  on  lines 
parallel  to  those  of  the  Property  Return  and  to  cover  materials 
as  well  as  Ordnance  stores  and  machines,  in  practice  has  become 
merely  an  accounting  of  tools,  machines  and  generally  of  "  plant " 
in  current  service. 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


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PRESENT  SYSTEM. 


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EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  55 

It  differs  from  the  other  return  in  that  the  Commanding  Officer 
who  signs  it,  signs  also  all  the  vouchers  to  it.  These  include  the 
abstracts  representing  transfers  to  him  from  the  Storekeeper; 
and  also  an  abstract  of  such  articles  for  which  he  is  responsible 
as  are  lost,  returned  to  store,  worn  out  or  destroyed. 

He  thus  becomes  the  arbiter  of  his -own  accountability,  and  his 
return  might,  as  far  as  the  responsibility  it  imposes  is  concerned, 
be  replaced  by  a  simple  unauthenticated  statement  of  his  lia- 
bilities. 

The  difference  between  his  position  and  that  of  the  Store- 
keeper need  not  be  dwelt  on,  yet  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  one  should  be  held  to  a  stricter  reckoning  than  the  other. 

I  would  also  call  attention  to  par,  64,  Ordnance  Regulations, 
page  II,  which  directs  the  Commanding  Officer  to  return  to 
the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  at  the  end  of  each  month  "  the  stores 
not  required  in  the  current  service."  That  is,  that  although  they 
have  been  expended,  /.  c,  consumed  on  paper  along  with  the 
powder  used  in  firing  salutes,  yet  being  actually  still  on  hand, 
unconsumed,  they  must  be  hauled  back  to  the  storehouse  on  the 
monthly  settling  day,  to  be  taken  up  on  the  papers  with  other 
property  found  about  the  post;  to  be  "  re-expended  "  whenever 
the  current  service  may  require  them. 

General  Remarks. 

As  a  symmetrical  means  of  supplying  information  to  the  supe- 
rior military  authorities,  it  would  be  difficult  to  devise  anything 
more  simple  and  beautiful  in  its  general  plan,  than  the  present 
system.  It  may  be  compared  to  a  pyramid,  the  apex  of  which 
is  the  Return,  resting  on  the  Annual  Statements  of  receipts 
and  issues ;  these  being  supported  by  the  annual  abstracts  of 
receipts  and  issues ;  these  by  the  separate  quarterly  abstracts ; 
and  these  finally  by  the  individual  vouchers  ''en  masse."  All 
that  is  generally  seen  of  the  pyramid  is  above  ground,  where  the 
force  of  superior  criticism  has  gradually  moulded  it  into  a  nat- 
ural -,ymmetry.  My  objection  is  that  the  process  has  not  been 
carried    far    enough    down;    that  many   of  the  data    which  are 


56  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

assumed  to  be  correctly  prepared  are  insecurely  founded,  and  that 
hence  the  whole  structure  is  radically  weak. 

My  hope  is  to  explain  acceptably  a  system  by  which  all  these 
data  may  be  based  on  one  uniform  foundation,  and  that  by  the 
variety  of  interests  with  which  they  are  involved  they  may  be 
bound  together  into  one  consistent  whole,  worthy  of  the  shapely 
structure  they  support,  and  by  the  extension  of  whose  lines  their 
own  limits  were  determined. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

b.  internal  relations. 

(administration.) 

Giving  Orders, 

Orders  are  given  in  writing  for  important  work,  and  verbally 
for  minor  matters. 

If  given  in  writing,  the  orders  are  sometimes  entered  in  a 
"fabrication  book"  showing  date,  authority,  purpose,  Command- 
ing Officer's  signature,  and  finally  a  column  for  the  date  when 
their  completion  is  reported. 

Sometimes  the  orders  are  in  letters  or  notes  to  the  Master 
Workman  or  foremen ;  and  often,  particularly  in  large  orders 
which  have  been  long  discussed  and  for  the  beginning  of  which 
no  certain  time  is  set,  the  written  order  is  omitted  altogether. 

However  the  orders  may  be  given,  they  are  generally  entered  by 
the  foreman  in  a  memorandum  book  in  the  order  in  which 
received.  His  intention  is  to  keep  this  book  with  him  as  a  re- 
minder of  what  work  is  incomplete,  finished  jobs  being  crossed 
off  as  they  are  done.  These  being  reported  to  the  office,  the 
date  of  completion  is  entered  on  the  fabrication  book,  and  the 
circle  is  complete. 

This  seems  at  first  sight  a  very  natural  and  sufficiently  perfect 
way  of  keeping  track  of  orders ;  but  it  is  open  to  the  following 
grave  objections : 

1.  The  entry  is  only  a  memorandum;  nothing  depends  on  it; 
nothing  prevents  work  from  beginning  before  the  entry  is  made, 
or  from  continuing  after  it  is  crossed  off  as  complete. 

2.  Beginning  and  ending  with  himself,  as  the  foreman's  entry 


58  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

does,  there  is  nothing  to  mark  the  deHvery  of  the  order,  nor  to 
quahfy  its  asserted  completion. 

3.  Being  for  his  personal  information  only,  the  tendency  is  so 
to  abbreviate  the  entries  as  to  make  them  unintelligible  to  any 
one  else.  In  case  of  his  absence,  sudden  sickness  or  death,  the 
workings  of  the  whole  shop  may  thus  be  greatly  disturbed  or 
suspended. 

4.  The  book  makes  no  provision  for  distinguishing  jobs  in 
progress  from  those  on  which  no  work  has  been  done ;  nor  does 
it  exhibit  to  the  foreman  or  to  his  superiors  the  state  of  the  work 
in  his  shop  at  any  given  time.  All  this  has  to  be  carried  in  his 
head. 

5.  There  being  nothing  to  record  his  failure  to  make  an  entry 
or  to  cross  off  a  completed  job,  the  omission  can  only  be  detected 
when  in  the  first  case  the  work  ordered  is  needed  elsewhere,  and 
in  the  second  case  when  it  is  done  twice  over. 

6.  So,  should  an  entry  be  overlooked,  or  while  only  executed 
in  part,  crossed  off  as  if  completely  done ;  or  should  an  order 
be  amended  or  suspended  while  in  progress ;  or  should  he  wish 
to  record  its  product,  either  in  gross  at  once,  or  by  successive 
deliveries ;  in  these,  as  in  a  host  of  other  cases,  his  memory  must 
still  be  his  main  guide.  In  spite  of  his  book  he  would  still  have 
to  remember  what  to  look  for,  where  to  find  it,  and  what  it  meant 
when  found. 

There  is  a  certain  economy  of  attention  by  which  the  more 
active  is  a  man's  work,  the  less  is  he  capable  of  contemplation ; 
and  foremen's  heads  may  be  put  to  better  purposes  than  having 
to  bear  this  constant  burden  of  solicitude  about  their  clerical  work. 

7.  Passing  from  the  foreman  to  his  book,  we  find  in  an  arsenal 
of  any  size  that  the  great  number  of  orders  always  in  progress 
makes  the  task  of  keeping  track  of  them  within  the  book  almost 
as  great  as  if  no  book  were  had.  For  example,  suppose  the 
foreman  starts  with  a  fresh  book;  the  trivial  orders  are  soon 
crossed  off,  and  by  degrees  the  important  ones  are  left — mere 
oases  scattered  in  a  waste  of  entries  more  or  less  effete,  which 
has  to  be  slowly  traversed  every  time  new  work  is  to  be  given 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  59 

out  or  completed  work  crossed  off.  An  effort  is  made  from  time 
to  time  to  consolidate  the  incomplete  entries  and  start  anew  in  a 
fresh  place;  but  the  same  results  are  sure  to  follow:  the  most 
space  is  finally  occupied  by  what  matters  least,  and  the  most 
important  part  is  hidden  by  the  most  irrelevant. 

8.  When  there  is  more  than  one  department,  a  special  order 
book  is  sometimes  kept  for  each  foreman,  into  which  are  copied 
the  orders  which  specially  concern  him ;  but  as  it  can  hardly 
ever  be  foretold  into  which  department  an  order  may  not  go, 
such  a  plan  can  only  serve  an  uncertain  purpose  and  lead  to 
indefinite  results.  At  the  best,  it  removes  the  difficulty  only  a 
step  beyond  that  already  discussed. 

9.  There  is  another  practical  objection  to  the  use  of  an  order 
book  which  is  of  far  greater  importance  than  may  at  first  appear, 
that  is,  the  impossibility  of  its  being  in  two  places  at  once.  It 
is  needed  at  the  office  for  the  entry  of  orders,  and  it  is  needed  at 
the  shop  for  reference  to  these  entries,  often  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. It  will  be  found  that  with  the  delays  in  its  transmission, 
added  to  the  time  it  is  actually  in  use  at  the  "  other"  place,  the 
occasions  of  its  being  on  hand  when  wanted  at  either  place  seem 
very  rare.  If  the  book  is  retained  at  the  office,  it  requires  fre- 
quent absences  of  the  foreman  from  his  proper  work,  and  it  in- 
volves the  doing  of  his  clerical  work  at  least  twice :  once  in  a 
memorandum  of  some  form,  and  once  in  the  office  book. 

It  would  be  better  if  some  means  were  found  by  which  what- 
ever record  was  needed  should  be  on  hand  whenever  and  wher- 
ever wanted  ;  that  whatever  work  of  record  was  required  should 
for  a  single  cause  be  done  but  once ;  and  that  its  effect  should 
be  positive,  determinate  and  distinct. 

Keeping  Account  of  Labor  Charges. 

The  timekeeper,  generally  the  foreman,  goes  about  the  shop 

towards  the  close  of  the  day  and  asks  each  workman  how  he  has 

spent  it;    according  to  the  workman's  recollection  he  enters  the 

time  reported  in  a  book,  as  hereafter  described. 

Note. — An  exception  to  this  practice  existed  in  my  time  at  the  National  Armory^ 
where,  in  some  departments,  each  workman  entered  on  a  little  slip  of  paper  in  his  own 


6o 


PRESENT  SYSTEM. 


language,  the  manner  in  which  his  time  had  been  employed.  This  and  the  time  were 
copied  into  the  time  book;  but  nothing  more  was  done  with  the  tickets.  This  practice 
was  the  germ  of  the  system  herein  developed. 

There  are  two  general  forms  of  time  book ;  one,  form  A,  in 
the  nature  of  a  pay-roll,  in  which  the  time  made  by  each  man 
during  each  day  is  entered  in  gross  ;  and  forms  B  and  C,  in  which 
an  attempt  is  made  to  show  how  the  time  so  reported  has  been 
employed. 

Form  A. 
Time  book  for  month  of  April,  iSy^.. 


Names. 


J.  Smith.. 
A.  Jones.. 
T.  Brown 


Days  of  the  Month. 


to  31 


Total 
days. 


•7I 
32 

5 
6 


Wages 
per  day. 


p2    GO 

5  00 

75 


Am'nt. 


$7   00 

25    00 

4   50 


Form  B  occupies  a  page  for  each  day,  and  a  line  for  each  man. 
To  save  copying  the  names  anew  each  day,  it  is  customary  to 
paste  a  fly  slip  on  the  back  of  the  first  page,  which,  being 
unfolded,  serves  for  all  successive  pages  and  also  gives  more  room 
for  the  daily  record  of  employment. 

Form  B. 
Work  Report  for  April  2d,  1874.. 


Names. 


John  Smith 

A.  Jones ... 
T.  Brown... 


Occupation. 


\  hour  cleaning  engine,  \  hour  sawing 
wood,  i\  hours  filing  brass  for  lathe 
bear!  n  gs 

Absent 

\  day  on  shop  fixtures,  ^general  jobbing. 
\  helping  smith 


Total  days. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


6i 


Form  C. 
Time  book  and  Report  of  Work  in  the  Machine  Shop,  for  April,  iSj/f, 

John  Smith,  at  %2.oo per  day  of  Z  hours. 


Days  of  Month. 

Total 
hours. 

Total 
days. 

Am'nt 

Employment. 

I 

2 

3    1  4 

! 

5 

6 

to  31 

Repairing   mowing 
machine 

I 

I 
6 

2 

4 

2 

3 
3 

2 

6 

I 
I 

3 
8 
6 
12 
3 

I 

3 

3 

5 

$0  75 

2  00 

I  50 

3  00 
75 

Cleaning  engine.... 

Sawing  wood 

New  lathe 

Shop  tools 

Total  hours 

8 

a 

8 

a 

6 

a 

10 

32 

4 

$8  00 

**     days 

I 

... 

I 

... 

3 

... 

4 

4 

Form  C,  which  is  a  combination  in  form  as  well  as  in  name, 
was  in  use  at  the  National  Armory  during  my  service  there.  Its 
great  adv^antage  over  form  B  is  the  greater  space  it  affords  for 
inserting  the  names  of  employments  upon  which  the  workman 
has  been  engaged.  It  also  permits  the  use  of  a  smaller  time 
unit,  and  consequently  of  a  more  exact  definition  of  its  record ; 
for  in  form  B  the  small  space  allotted  for  a  description  of  the 
work,  and  the  need  of  re-writing  it  every  day  tends  naturally  to 
the  consolidation  of  entries ;  whereas  in  form  C  an  entry  once 
made  stands  good  for  the  whole  month,  provided  that  the  workman 
always  calls  the  same  work  by  the  same  name. 

Leaving  out  of  consideration  form  A,  we  find  both  B  and  C 
open  to  the  following  objections : 

I.  The  workman  has  to  remember  so  suddenly  all  the  jobs  he 
has  worked  on  during  the  day,  that  he  is  very  apt  to  make  mis- 
takes by  lumping  different  jobs  under  one  head ;  or  by  calling 
the  same  work  by  different  names,  or  different  work  by  the  same 
name  on  different  days. 


62  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

2.  He  is  apt  to  use  general  terms  loosely,  charging  his  time, 
say,  to  "  Miss.  Repairs,"  "  Shop  Fixtures,"  "  Jobbing,"  etc.,  instead 
of  giving  it  definite  names  by  which  its  exact  nature  may  be 
hereafter  distinguished. 

3.  In  case  the  workman  is  absent,  during  all  or  part  of  the  day, 
there  is  nothing  but  the  memory  of  the  foreman  to  rely  upon  as 
to  the  fact.  For  example,  the  workman  may  be  marked  "  absent " 
when  present,  or  may  be  credited  with  some  time  when  absent; 
in  neither  case  will  the  error  be  discovered  until  the  pay-roll  is 
signed,  nor  even  then  unless  the  workman  has  kept  his  own  time, 
and  unless  in  the  latter  instance  he  has  been  honest  enough  to 
forego  the  advantage  given  by  the  foreman's  mistake. 

4.  Besides  such  errors  in  stating  the  gross  amount  of  time,  the 
following  mistakes  are  not  infrequent  in  the  distribution  of  the 
time :  In  form  B,  the  foreman,  being  cramped  for  room  if  he  has 
many  entries  to  make  on  one  line,  is  led  to  abbreviate  them  or  to 
condense  them,  so  as  to  save  himself  trouble. 

5.  In  form  C,  also,  he  is  not  unapt,  in  order  to  save  himself 
the  trouble  of  writing  new  headings,  by  no  means  an  easy  thing 
while  walking  about  the  shop  taking  time,  to  charge  the  man's 
time  to  an  old  heading,  or  to  merge  it  with  some  other  job  worked 
at  on  the  same  day. 

6.  With  the  best  intentions  possible,  he  will  also  make  mis- 
takes by  inadvertently  placing  the  figures  on  the  wrong  line, 
and  even  sometimes  in  the  wrong  column;  and  generally,  he  is 
subject  to  all  the  errors  attending  verbal  transmission  of  import- 
ant information,  aggravated  by  the  interruptions  which  it  is  a 
foreman's  regular  business  to  meet. 

At  the  end  of  the  month  these  time  books  go  to  the  main 
office,  where  the  clerks  use  them  in  making  out  the  pay-roll,  and 
afterward  in  allotting  the  various  charges  among  the  appropria- 
tions to  which  they  belong.  But  the  latter  part  of  this  work  is, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  very  imperfectly  performed.  In  the 
first  place  the  entries  are  confusing  and  in  themselves  indefi- 
nite;  and  again,  clerks,  from  the  nature  of  their  occupations, 
are  incompetent  to  judge  fully  of  the  meaning  of  these  entries. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  63 

made  as  they  are  by  mechanics,  and  abounding  in  technical  terms. 
So  the  deciphering  of  these  entries  falls,  as  does  the  statement 
of  work  done  and  the  cost  of  the  fabricated  product,  upon  the 
foreman,  again  burdening  him  with  work  which  he  is  not  fitted 
for,  and  interfering  with  the  free  exercise  of  his  proper  functions. 

Here  his  frequent  inexpertness  with  figures  comes  in  to  make 
the  result  uncertain ;  or  he  may  be  so  interested  in  keeping  the 
cost  of  a  certain  work  within  a  given  estimate,  that  his  report 
will  be  misleading.  Meanwhile  there  is  a  hurrying  between  the 
shops  and  the  office,  with  inquiries,  statements  and  explanations 
so  thick,  that  for  a  few  days  after  the  first  of  the  month  life  is  a 
burden  to  all  concerned. 

So  it  happens  that  when  any  special  estimate  or  report  is 
demanded,  unless  perfect  confidence  be  had  in  the  intuitive 
knowledge  of  expenditures,  both  past  and  contemplated,  which 
foremen,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  seem  often  expected  to  pos- 
sess, the  whole  ground  has  to  be  gone  over  anew;  and  from 
the  beginning  every  time  have  these  piles  of  manuscript  to  be 
deciphered  in  the  light  of  memory  alone. 

In  spite  of  appeals  to  the  memory  of  the  workmen,  who,  to 
meet  them,  often  keep  little  books  of  their  own,  what  wonder  is 
it  that  such  work  is  most  wearing  in  the  performance,  and  most 
unsatisfactory  in  the  result? 

Then  suppose  that  fragmentary  information  should  be  required  : 
for  example,  the  gross  cost  of  an  order  having  been  reported, 
including  the  drawings,  patterns,  tools,  modifications  of  machinery 
and  the  time  always  wasted  in  the  experimental  working  of  new 
devices,  one  may  be,  and  often  is,  required  to  ascertain  the  cost 
of  duplicating  the  product  of  the  first  order,  the  plant  required 
being  on  hand. 

It  may  be  also  required,  knowing  the  cost  of  work  done  by  a 
high  grade  of  labor  necessarily  employed  in  experimental  efforts 
of  a  tentative  nature,  to  estimate  what  it  would  cost  to  repeat  the 
work  on  a  larger  scale  by  the  aid  of  cheaper  labor.  In  the 
ordinary  case  the  future  need  for  such'  information  is  not  pro- 
vided for ;  the  workman  does  well  if  he  even  charges  his  time  in 


64  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

bulk  to  the  proper  order.  So  nothing  but  sheer  memory  remains 
to  supply  this  information ;  unless,  in  anticipation  of  such  an 
inquiry,  a  special  effort  has  been  made  at  the  start,  and  some 
special  record  has  been  kept  for  this  purpose  alone. 

I  have  known  this  work  to  be  repeated  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  finding  out  certain  data  relating  to  its  first  performance. 

The  need  for  these  special  efforts  is  a  reproach  to  any  manage- 
ment. They  sap  the  energies  of  all  concerned ;  and  instead  of 
allowing  those  whose  equanimity  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
the  successful  supervision  of  their  work  to  confine  their  attention 
to  the  general  view,  it  compels  them  to  strain  their  minds  and 
burden  their  memories  with  details  of  but  passing  importance. 

Such  records  should  be  made  almost  automatically,  and  so 
readily  as  to  be  almost  simultaneous  with  the  events  recorded. 
Once  made  in  their  simplest  form,  they  should  never  be  repeated 
in  the  same  form ;  but  every  time  that  they  are  handled  should 
be  more  and  more  consolidated  and  concentrated  toward  the 
attainment  of  the  given  end. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  temptation  to  "charge  off"  labor,  so  as 
to  diminish  the  cost  of  certain  work.  This  is  a  common  subject 
of  criticism  by  private  parties  in  competition  with  government 
workshops.  They  say,  "  You  make  cartridges,  or  guns,  or  ships 
at  such  a  reported  cost;  but  w^here  is  your  balance  sheet  to 
prove  the  truth  of  your  figures?  Where  are  the  many  items, 
small  in  themselves,  but  in  the  aggregate  often  amounting  to  the 
total  cost  of  the  labor  employed,  which  we  cannot  '  charge  off,' 
but  have  to  pay  for,  if  not  out  of  one  pocket  or  '  appropriation,' 
then  out  of  another?"  Such  criticisms  may  be  met  by  special 
balance  sheets  showing  all  expenses  and  the  products  resulting 
from  them,  as  was  so  admirably  done  at  the  National  Armory  in 
1879;  but  more  prompt  replies  are  constantly  required,  both  in 
gross  and  in  detail — replies  which  ordinary  methods  of  book- 
keeping do  not  appear  able  to  afford  without  considerable 
trouble,  cost  and  loss  of  time. 

The  principal  faults  found  with  the  present  methods  of  time- 
keeping are  generally  as  follows : 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  65 

1.  The  uncertainty  and  indcfiniteness  of  the  labor  charges. 

2.  The  hmitod  use  made  of  these  charges,  owing  to  the  diffi- 
culty of  collating  them,  of  referring  to  them,  and  of  interpreting 
them. 

3.  The  improper  amount  of  clerical  labor  required  of  foremen 
in  compiling  these  charges,  both  as  to  the  effect  on  the  useful- 
ness of  the  foremen,  and  as  to  the  uncertainty  of  such  work  when 
done  by  unfamiliar  hands. 

Procuring  and  Accounting  for  Material. 

There  are  many  methods  employed,  alike  in  their  general 
aspects,  but  with  such  differences  in  practice  as  local  and  personal 
peculiarities  have  developed. 

The  following  illustration  may  serve  as  a  general  example  of 
the  evils  attending  the  use  of  books  as  ordinarily  employed : 

1.  Let  us  take  the  simplest  case  first,  and  suppose  the  material 
to  be  in  store,  and  the  foreman  to  know  it.  He  makes  an  entry  on 
the  "  store  book;"  the  Commanding  Officer  signs  it;  the  book 
goes  to  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  or  one  of  his  assistants,  who 
sends  the  material,  and  the  book,  when  he  can  get  it,  to  the  fore- 
man. The  latter  receipts  for  the  material  on  the  margin  of  the 
original  entry;  the  material  is  "  expended"  on  the  books  of  the 
storekeeper,  and  the  transaction  is  at  an  end. 

2.  When  there  is  nothing  suitable  in  store,  or  the  foreman 
thinks  there  is  not,  he  makes  his  wants  known  on  the  "  purchase 
book."  As  this  book  is  kept  in  the  office,  he  goes  there,  taking 
a  memorandum  of  his  wants;  they  are  thus  written  twice  (i,  2). 
They  are  then  approved  by  the  Commanding  Officer  (3)  ; 
written  on  an  order  blank  (4);  copied  on  a  duplicate  stub  (5)  ; 
signed  again  by  the  Commanding  Officer  (6),  andsent  to  the  dealer 
(7).  Meanwhile  the  margin  of  the  purchase  book  is  marked 
with  the  name  of  the  dealer  (8).  The  supplies  come  back  with 
the  bill,  which  is  copied  into  the  Inspector's  book  (9)  and  initialed 
by  him  after  inspection  (10). 

5 


66  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

After  the  material  has  been  inspected,  the  following  is  the 
course  required  to  get  it  out  of  store:  The  foreman,  having 
ascertained  by  repeated  inquiry  that  the  stores  have  come,  and 
still  desiring  them,  writes  them  again  on  the  store  book  (ii), 
and  after  being  again  approved  by  the  Commanding  Officer  (12) 
the  book  goes  to  the  storekeeper,  who  takes  the  material  and  the 
book,  when  he  can  get  it,  to  the  foreman,  whose  receipt  (13)  ends 
his  share  of  the  business. 

The  initialed  bill  then  goes  to  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper,  who 
receipts  for  the  stores  on  the  duplicate  stub  (14).  The  assistant 
storekeeper  also  keeps  a  record,  of  a  more  or  less  perfect 
kind,  of  all  receipts  into  (15)  and  issues  from  (16)  his  store- 
house. 

So  much  for  the  transaction  as  it  regards  the  internal  economy 
of  the  arsenal.  The  external  requirements  are  met  as  follows: 
From  the  stubs  receipted  by  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  and  the 
bills  received  from  the  dealer,  is  made  out  a  Certificate  of  Inspec- 
tion (17),  signed  by  the  assistant  inspector  (18),  then  by  the 
Commanding  Officer  as  principal  inspector  (19);  then  the 
material  is  receipted  for  again  by  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  (20)  ; 
then  approved  by  the  Commanding  Officer  and  forwarded  to  the 
Chief  of  Ordnance  for  payment  to  be  authorized  (21)  ;  then  re- 
turned by  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  for  payment  (22).  Vouchers 
in  duplicate  (23,  24)  are  then  made  out,  approved  by  the 
Commanding  Officer  (25,  26),  and  the  creditor's  receipt  affixed 
to  each  (27,  28)  after  payment. 

The  purchase  is  then  entered  in  duplicate  on  the  Monthly  ab- 
stract of  purchases,  a  cash  paper  (29,  30)  ;  and  again  in  dupli- 
cate on  the  Quarterly  abstract  of  purchases,  a  property  paper 
(31,  32).  This  imposes  a  responsibility  on  the  Ordnance  Store- 
keeper, so  he  hastens  to  credit  himself  with  the  expenditure  of 
the  same  items  on  the  abstract  of  Expenditures,  also  in  duplicate 
(33.  34). 

Here,  at  last,  the  identity  of  the  purchase  disappears,  being 
merged  in  that  of  other  purchases  of  the  same  material,  which 
arc    consolidateei,    as    before    described,    through    both    sets    of 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  67 

Annual  abstracts  and  Statements  into  the  receipts,  issues  and 
balances  shown  by  the  Annual  Return.  The  name  has  been 
written  about  fifteen  times. 

I  do  not  cavil  at  these  methods,  which  only  show  the  extent  to 
which  a  faithful  observance  of  the  regulations  has  in  one  case  at 
least  been  carried ;  but  I  seek  to  improve  the  regulations  them- 
selves, by  facilitating  the  transactions  which  they  require  recorded  ; 
by  defining  and  augmenting  the  responsibilities  which  they  are 
meant  to  impose ;  and  by  greatly  diminishing  the  labor  which 
they  now  compel. 

For,  leaving  out  of  consideration  the  trusteeship  of  an  arsenal 
administration,  and  considering  it  simply  as  a  workshop,  subject 
to  the  same  conditions  and  necessities  which  prevail  elsewhere, 
it  will  be  evident  that  up  to  at  least  the  first  sixteen  acts  recorded, 
there  has  been  done  an  unnecessary  amount  of  writing,  at  a 
considerable  cost  of  delay, — delay  due,  not  only  to  the  time 
consumed  in  the  routine  performance  of  these  acts,  but  following 
the  failure  of  any  one  of  the  six  agents  named  to  properly 
second  the  acts  of  his  predecessor  in  the  series. 

The  Commanding  Officer  has  to  approve  three  times  acts 
done  to  carry  out  his  own  orders.  Does  it  not  seem,  that  in 
his  own  jurisdiction,  at  least,  his  approval  of  an  order  should 
carry  with  it  that  of  the  means  required  for  its  execution? 

The  consequence  of  such  a  multiplication  of  precautions  is, 
that  when  stores  are  urgently  needed,  the  prescribed  forms  are 
disregarded,  and  the  stores  are  gotten  and  used  as  they  would 
be  in  any  private  establishment,  and  the  papers  are  made  right 
afterwards.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  have  no  knots  to  cut  or 
unravel,  but  a  simple,  exact  method  for  every  case,  so  easy  to 
follow  that  no  one  would  want  to  leave  it  for  another? 

Returning  to  the  example:  the  Commanding  Officer  may 
suspend  his  action  on  some  request,  or  may  refuse  it  altogether, 
at  any  one  of  the  three  stages  in  which  he  acts.  But  how  is  the 
foreman  to  know  it,  except  by  laboriously  searching  the  books 
of  the  office,  whenever  he  may  have  a  chance?  The  Command- 
ing Officer  may  intend  to  ask  for  explanations;   but  in  the  great 


68  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

volume  of  small  things  which  this  very  method  forces  on  him, 
naturally  often  forgets  it. 

Or  suppose  that,  having  refused  a  request,  and  having  changed 
his  mind,  he  turn  back  the  pages  of  the  book  and  finally  approve 
it;  unless  he  at  once  calls  the  clerk  whose  business  it  is,  the 
chances  are  many  that  the  special  act  of  approval  will  be  over- 
looked in  the  mass  of  ordinary  entries  surrounding  it. 

Now  suppose  that  everything  has  gone  well,  and  that  the  stores 
have  been  received  and  inspected,  and  have  been  taken  to  the 
shop,  the  book  being  at  the  ofhce  for  fresh  entries,  no  one  knows 
for  what  the  supplies  were  ordered.  The  foreman  goes  to  work, 
uses  up  the  material,  and  finds  out  next  day  that  what  was  anxi- 
ously expected  for  the  use  of  A,  B,  C,  has  been  sacrificed  to  the 
remote  necessities  of  X,  Y,  Z. 

Then  as  to  the  inspection.  The  assistant  inspector  is  supposed 
to  pass  upon  both  quality  and  quantity  of  the  stores  he  exam- 
ines ;  but  in  reality,  since  the  needs  of  a  manufacturing  arsenal 
embrace  almost  every  known  form  of  material,  he  is  unable  from 
human  limitations  to  judge  of  the  quality  of  them  all ;  so,  with 
the  best  intentions  on  his  part,  unless  a  special  effort  be  made 
and  the  services  of  an  expert  be  enlisted,  the  chances  are  that 
inferior  oils,  paints,  steel,  green  lumber,  poor  leather  and  the  like 
will  be  accepted.  It  is  then  nobody's  special  business  to  com- 
plain ;  the  workman  feels  that  his  duty  is  done  when  he  makes 
the  best  use  of  the  material  put  into  his  hands,  and  the  trouble 
only  comes  to  light  too  late  to  be  remedied. 

Would  it  not  be  better  to  have  the  stores  inspected  by  the  man 
asking  for  them,  as  he  knows  best  what  he' wants? 

Owing  to  our  large  supply  of  old  stores,  and  to  the  scantiness 
of  our  appropriations,  it  is  advisable  that  instead  of  purchasing 
fresh  supplies,  those  already  on  hand  should  be  used  whenever 
practicable.  It  often  happens  that  old  materials  are  on  hand 
which  would  answer  the  foreman's  purpose  almost  as  well  as  new 
ones,  if  he  knew  of  their  existence.  But  he  has  no  stated  means 
of  finding  them  out;  none  in  fact  but  by  desultory  conversation 
with  the  storekeepers,  or  by  accidental  observation  while  in  theif 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  69 

warehouses.  As  he  has  no  business  there,  he  generally  finds  it 
easier  to  ask  to  have  purchased  what  he  wants,  than  to  hunt  it  up 
in  a  store,  and  then  have  to  ask  for  it  besides. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  Commanding  Officer  or  some  one  in 
the  office  should  look  over  the  requisitions  and  supply  what  is 
needed  from  the  stores  on  hand  ;  but  neither  he  nor  any  one  else 
in  a  large  arsenal  can,  under  the  present  system,  stand  effectively 
between  the  demand  and  the  supply,  knowing  both  what  there  is 
to  spare,  and  how  nearly  it  may  serve  the  purpose  for  which 
something  else  is  asked  for. 

Would  it  not  be  better  to  give  the  foreman  an  incentive  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  resources  of  the  arsenal,  so  that  the 
requisition  may  be  started  straight  at  first,  rather  than  to  let  it 
go  wrong  and  trust  to  correcting  it  afterwards,  particularly  since 
the  natural  tendency  of  routine  is  to  the  mechanical  approval  of 
what  is  recommended  by  subordinates  worthy  of  confidence  ? 

This  suggests  the  query  as  to  the  necessity  of  the  Command- 
ing Officer's  burdening  himself,  and  hampering  the  course  of 
business,  by  requiring  his  preliminary  approval  of  so  many  of 
the  functional  acts  of  his  subordinates.  Does  it  not  seem,  that 
even  as  he  trusts  his  foremen  with  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
costly  labor  under  their  charge,  so  he  could  trust  them,  for  the 
day  at  least,  with  the  use  made  of  the  less  valuable  material 
which  they  require,  and  permit  them  to  take  from  the  stores  on 
hand  what  they  need  to  execute  his  wishes,  subject  to  his  ap- 
proval after  the  act  ?  The  stores  will  not  be  necessarily  de- 
stroyed, they  will  be  as  much  under  his  control  with  the  foremen 
as  they  were  before  with  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper,  and  any 
abuse  of  privilege  can  in  the  end  be  more  effectually  checked 
by  a  timely  reproof  than  by  a  chronic  condition  of  apparent 
distrust. 

Meanwhile,  the  workmen  will  not  be  kept  waiting;  and  the 
foreman,  not  having  to  burden  his  mind  with  prospective  wants 
long  before  they  actually  arise,  will  not  be  tempted  to  avoid  this 
care  by  accumulating  an  irregular  surplus  which  deprives  the 
arsenal  as  a  whole   of  what  he  thus  exclusively  controls.     His 


70  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

freedom  of  action  being  the  greater,  so  will  the  responsibility  as 
to  the  net  result  of  his  actions  be. 

We  have  so  far  been  occupied  with  the  process  of  drawing 
material  from  store,  and  with  all  the  checks  preventing  its  im- 
proper expenditure ;  but  in  spite  of  all  this  care,  there  is  no 
similar  provision  made  for  returning  to  store  what  is  unsuitable 
or  surplus,  except  by  going  back  over  all  the  books  and  cancel- 
ing or  modifying  the  entries  relating  to  the  transaction.  Should 
a  set  of  quarterly  papers  intervene,  the  chances  are,  that  to  avoid 
the  trouble  and  complication  of  accounts  resulting  from  the 
changes,  the  supplies  will  be  kept  "  expended  "  in  name,  but 
really  awaiting  some  other  application. 

Having  facilitated  the  procurement  of  material  by  an  improve- 
ment on  the  means  above  described,  it  will  still  be  necessary  to 
provide  for  its  return  ;  in  fine,  to  treat  the  supply  in  store  like  water, 
considering  the  storehouses  as  tanks  provided  with  the  most 
direct  system  of  pipes,  having  the  fewest  turns  and  the  simplest 
valves,  and  so  arranged  that  while  any  responsible  person  could 
always  draw  what  he  wanted  so  easily  that  he  would  not  be 
tempted  to  take  more  than  he  required,  yet  that  every  such  act 
would  of  necessity  be  indelibly  recorded  and  accounted  for. 
Also  to  arrange  matters  so  that  it  would  be  so  easy  to  drain  the 
overflow  back  into  the  tank  from  which  it  came,  that  one  would 
rather  take  that  course  than  have  it  about  the  shop. 

Determining  Cost  of  Product. 
General  Considerations. 

Good  administration,  in  our  case,  has  been  defined  as  the 
doing  of  good  work  cheaply,  and  the  test  of  a  good  product  to 
be  its  cost. 

Almost  any  establishment  can  do  good  work  when  supplied 
with  good  workmen,  tools  and  material,  but  it  is  not  impos- 
sible to  do  work  too  well,  to  make  disproportionate  efforts  to 
accomplish  insignificant  results.  Experience  shows  this  to  be 
often  true,  particularly  as  regards  the  manufacture  "  at  home"  of 
articles  made  more  cheaply  as  specialties  elsewhere. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  71 

Competition  with  his  rivals  may  force  the  business  man  to 
reaHze  this ;  but  the  pubhc  officer  can  only  be  reached  by  a 
sense  of  pride  leading  him  to  compare  his  results  with  each  other 
and  generally  with  those  of  like  character  about  him.  Its  effi- 
ciency being  granted,  his  work  is  well  done  in  proportion  as  it  is 
cheaply  done. 

But  how  tell  if  it  is  cheaply  done?  Nothing  seems  more  easy; 
nothing  is  really  more  difficult.  How  many  are  the  worthless 
devices  whose  only  claim  lies  in  their  asserted  economy !  How 
many  manufacturers  have  unwittingly  sold  goods  below  cost; 
and  how  many  have  persevered  in  wasteful  processes,  saving  their 
pence  while  wasting  their  pounds,  until  they  found  themselves 
insolvent ! 

True,  the  government  officer  is  not  so  directly  subject  to  out- 
side competition.  His  troubles  lie  within,  and  are  often  born  of 
his  own  zeal ;  his  interest  in  the  working  of  his  own  methods,  often 
as  potent  as  any  love  of  gain,  may  blind  him  to  their  remote  but 
certain  consequences. 

What  he  needs  is  a  constant,  impartial  monitor,  which  he  may 
consult  as  he  would  a  clock ;  telling  him  not  only  how  much  he 
has  spent,  but  how  and  where  it  has  gone. 

The  ordinary  method  of  determining  cost  is  elsewhere  described. 
Owing  to  the  uncertainty  of  the  result,  when  accounts  are  not  bal- 
anced, the  subject  does  not  seem  to  have  received  the  attention 
which  it  deserves. 

This  determination  can  only  be  made  valuable  by  being  made 
certain;  it  can  only  become  certain,  by  being  made  comprehen- 
sive ;  and  this  only  by  charging  all  expenses  automatically  to  some 
account,  and  making  all  of  these  accounts  tell  in  the  finished 
product. 

Then  we  shall  be  on  firm  ground  ;  and  knowing  the  special 
causes  of  cost,  may  retrench  or  expand  where  it  may  seem  most 
advantageous,  having  a  certainty  that  the  effects  of  whatever 
steps  are  taken  will  be  conclusively  brought  to  view. 


72  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

Present  Method  of  Determining  Cost. 

As  far  as  my  experience  goes,  this  is  done  either  by  foremen 
or  clerks. 

By  Fore  me  71. 

I.  Cost  of  labor. 

The  foreman  cons  the  time  books  and  picks  out  from  them  the 
items  appearing  to  correspond  to  the  job  whose  cost  he  is  com- 
puting. It  has  already  been  explained,  page  6 1,  how  difficult 
this  is. 

What  it  really  means  in  practice  can  only  be  appreciated  by 
one  who  has  actually  performed  the  work.  Such  questions  as 
these  arise :  Two  firing  rests  having  been  ordered  for  separate 
parties,  say  a  month  apart,  and  half  a  dozen  men  having  worked 
on  them  at  different  times  during  four  months,  one  of  the  rests 
is  completed,  and  as  it  is  for  sale,  its  cost  must  be  immediately 
determined.  How  detect  among  the  mass  of  entries  coverino- 
this  long  record  how  the  work  has  been  divided  between  the  two 
rests?     It  is  impossible. 

But  suppose  that  the  work  has  been  properly  named  every 
time,  when  is  the  unfortunate  foreman  to  stop  hunting  items? 
Not  until  he  has  gone  through  every  page  of  every  time  book 
since  the  job  was  started.  Even  then,  an  interruption  or  the 
need  of  his  books  elsewhere  will  upset  his  calculations  and 
probably  drive  him  to  an  estimated  account  of  labor,  as  being  on 
the  whole  about  as  accurate  as  the  unverifiable  statements  of  his 
books. 

A  better  illustration  of  this  difficulty  may  be  found  in  the  case 
of  the  completion  in  part  of  an  order  calling  for  large  numbers 
of  a  certain  article.  Suppose  the  order  be  to  make  i  ,ooo  halters, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  month  all  are  cut  out,  lOO  finished,  and  the 
rest  in  various  stages  of  completeness  in  the  hands  of  different 
workmen.  How  may  the  cost  of  the  lOO  halters  be  determined? 
Surely  not  from  the  books ;  everything  there  is  simply  charged 
to  "  halters." 

It  may  be  said  to  keep  a  special  account  of  the  time  taken  to 
cut  out,  or  sew,  or  rivet,  lo,  20,  or  50  halters;   and  from  that  to 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  73 

determine  the  cost  of  each  operation  and  hence  that  of  the  prod- 
uct. Nothing  can  be  more  illusory  then  such  a  proceeding;  it 
makes  no  allowance  for  the  time  consumed  in  preparing  work 
and  tools ;  for  the  inevitable  loss  of  time  in  changing  from  one 
job  to  another,  and  for  the  waste.  It  is  like  attempting  to  de- 
termine from  half  a  dozen  foot  tracks  the  general  direction  in 
which  he  who  made  them  was  traveling. 

In  practice  nothing  can  be  surely  known  of  the  cost  of  any 
job  until  it  is  completed ;  and  yet  foremen  and  others  are  ex- 
pected to  keep  within  their  estimates  ! 

So  with  piece  work ;  the  price  for  it  can  only  be  set  blindly, 
or  by  competitive  bidding,  unless  a  broadly  comprehensive  view 
of  the  subject  be  first  obtained.  Even  if  awarded  to  the  lowest 
bidder,  it  is  probably  better  in  the  long  run  to  know  for  about 
what  price  he  can  afford  to  do  it  properly,  than  to  risk  wasting 
the  temporary  profit  gained  by  excessive  reduction,  in  disputes 
with  the  contractor  over  the  quality  of  his  work,  with  the  added 
risk  of  delay  in  the  production  of  other  dependent  parts. 

2.  Cost  of  material. 

Leaving  out  such  cases  as  one  in  my  own  experience,  in  which 
no  material  was  charged  to  a  job  actually  containing  several 
hundred  pounds  of  iron,  the  foreman  estimates  the  material  con- 
sumed, and  either  guesses  at  its  value,  or,  if  of  an  earnest  turn 
of  mind,  goes  to  the  office  and  gets  one  of  the  clerks  to  hunt  it 
up  among  the  records. 

Here  his  labor  generally  stops ;  his  natural  desire  to  make  the 
best  possible  showing  may  lead  him  to  confine  himself  to  the 
bare  total  cost  of  labor  and  material,  omitting  all  charges  for 
miscellaneous  expenses,  such  as  superintendence;  clerk  hire; 
power ;  use  and  wear  of  tools,  machinery  and  buildings ;  oil ; 
waste ;  heating  and  lighting ;  laborers,  watchmen,  teamsters  and 
the  like.  These  expenses,  however,  are  generally  covered  by 
adding  a  certain  percentage,  as  follows : 

a.  An  arbitrary  charge,  depending  on  the  circumstances  of 
each  case. 

b.  A  percentage  on  the  gross  cost  of  the  job. 


74  PRESENT  SYSTEM. 

c.  A  percentage  on  the  value  of  the  labor,  with  or  without  an 
additional  percentage  on  the  value  of  the  material. 

d.  A  price,  varying  with  the  time  actually  employed  on  the 
job. 

The  latter  mode,  which  is  that  used  at  William  Sellers  &  Co.'s 
great  establishment,  is  the  method  which  I  prefer,  for  the 
expenses  named  bear  a  closer  relation  to  the  quantity  of  labor 
than  to  the  value  of  the  material  or  to  the  quality  and  cost  of 
the  labor  employed.  For  the  running  expenses  of  the  shop,  say 
while  turning  shafting,  being  a  function  of  time,  are  the  same 
whether  the  shafting  is  of  iron,  steel  or  bronze,  and  whether  the 
lathe  is  tended  by  a  boy  or  a  high-priced  tool  maker.  See 
Chapter  XII. 

By  Clerks. 

1.  The  labor  items  are  picked  out  as  before  described;  but 
unless  with  the  aid  of  the  foremen  and  others  more  closely  con- 
cerned with  the  origin  or"  the  charges,  are  necessarily  even  less 
apt  to  be  correctly  stated  than  when  the  foremen  attend  to  them. 

2.  The  account  for  material  is  made  up  principally  from  what 
the  records  go  to  show  was  procured  expressly  for  the  job  in 
question,  either  from  store  or  by  purchase. 

The  fault  of  this  is  evident;  for  on  the  one  hand,  no  pro- 
vision is  made  for  taking  account  of  suitable  material  already  on 
hand  in  the  shops  and  consequently  used  for  this  special  purpose  ; 
nor  on  the  other  hand  is  allowance  made  for  a  failure  to  use  all 
of  the  material  so  purchased  or  otherwise  procured. 

The  first  case  is  evident ;  the  second  may  require  the  follow- 
ing illustration:  Supposing  an  order  required  for  its  execution 
that  certain  castings  be  procured ;  let  us  say  that  they  should  be 
of  malleable  cast  iron,  which  generally  takes  about  a  month  to 
prepare.  The  natural  course  is  to  order  a  sufficient  excess  of 
castings  from  each  pattern  to  provide  for  the  chance  of  any  of 
them  proving  defective,  and  so  to  prevent  the  great  delay  likely 
to  follow  the  discovery  of  the  imperfections  after  work  on  the 
castings  has  begun.  If  the  castings  should  all  prove  good,  is  it 
fair  for  the  clerk  to  follow  the  only  course  which  his  ignorance 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  75 

of  the  true  case  permits,  and  charge  them  all  against  the  job? 
If  any  other  course  were  open,  manifestly  not ;  but  he  has  no 
other  resource  unless  he  consults  the  foreman  and  they  go  over 
the  subject  together  under  all  the  disadvantages  before  described. 
As  a  refuge  from  such  difficulties  the  tendency  is  natural  to 
report  costs  as  they  might  be,  or  should  be.  or  as  they  once  were, 
rather  than  as  they  actually  are. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

GENERAL  OBJECTIONS  TO  PRESENT  METHODS, 
AND  NEEDS  OF  A  GOOD  SYSTEM. 

Objections  to  Present  Methods. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  appear  that  there  is  a  certain 
conflict  between  the  needs  of  the  Arsenal  as  a  manufactory,  and 
those  belonging  to  it  as  a  public  trust;  yet  that  neither  of  these 
requirements  is  fully  satisfied  by  existing  methods.  As  a  factory 
its  actions  are  not  as  ff&e  as  is  required  for  profitable  work ;  as 
a  storehouse  its  methods  are  not  as  precise  as  they  are  expected 
to  be  for  the  safe  keeping  of  its  contents. 

I  believe  that  the  cause  of  this  imperfect  working  lies  in  the 
impossibility  of  successfully  combining  many  functions  in  one 
instrument,  whether  human  or  inanimate. 

The  independence  of  function  has  long  been  a  maxim  in  the 
construction  of  machinery;  and  the  principle  should  be  as  true 
for  book-keeping,  which  is  only  construction  of  another  sort. 

Without  referring  to  proverbial  expressions  which  epitomize 
this  idea,  consider  any  of  the  combination  tools  which  are  so 
constantly  being  invented,  but  which,  however  attractive  at  first, 
one  so  seldom  buys  a  second  time. 

Take  one  of  the  best  of  them,  the  tack  hammer  with  a  claw  at 
its  further  end.  Its  sole  advantage  is  that  you  save  the  cost  of 
one  handle ;  its  disadvantages  are  that  to  get  one  piece  you 
must  buy  both ;  that  either  end  is  in  the  way  when  you  want  to 
use  the  other  ;  that  only  one  person  can  work  with  it  at  one  time  ; 
and  that,  like  the  rest  of  its  kind,  its  construction  is  a  series  of 
compromises  between  real  efficiency,  stability  and  economy,  and 
the  appearance  of  these  qualities  only. 


NEEDS  OF  A  GOOD  SYSTEM.  77 

Many  proprietors  consklcr  it  an  economy  to  make  a  foreman 
keep  his  own  books,  combining  the  functions  of  hammer  and  claw 
in  one  man.  In  some  jobbing  and  repair  shops  I  have  known 
of  this  taking  half  the  foreman's  time.  Now,  considering  what 
he  is  there  for,  would  it  not  be  better  to  simplify  the  accounts  so 
that  a  clever  boy  could  keep  them,  and  let  the  foreman,  who  is 
the  head  of  all  the  men,  the  acknowledged  brains  ruling  the 
motion  of  a  hundred  hands,  have  full  power  to  direct  their  move- 
ments and  co-ordinate  their  energies  most  profitably? 

A  good  foreman  is  rare  enough,  but  one  who  is  also  a  good 
clerk  is  rarer  still.     Is  it  the  fault  of  the  supply  or  of  the  demand  ? 

Passing  now  to  inanimate  instruments,  to  most  people  the 
word  "  accounts  "  suggests  at  once  hooks.  But  looking  at  it  with- 
out prejudice,  is  not  an  account  book  a  combination  tool?  Does 
it  not  contain  a  mass  of  unnecessary  information  for  the  sake  of 
having  the  little  which  is  really  required ;  and  if  from  a  mistaken 
sense  of  economy  it  is  to  be  used  for  entry  and  record  by  several 
sets  of  people,  is  it  not  carrying  the  combination  idea  still  further 
and  in  the  wrong  direction  still  ?  Then  when  accounts  lap  into  dif- 
ferent books,  is  it  not  like  having  several  tack  hammers  and  claws 
with  only  one  handle  for  the  lot?  and  is  not  confusion  going  to 
follow  their  use  by  the  different  men  waiting  to  work  with  them? 

On  the  other  hand,  see  how  much  of  the  most  important  busi- 
ness of  the  world  is  done  without  books :  checks  of  draft  and 
deposit,  negotiable  bills  of  lading,  warehouse  receipts,  notes  and 
even  baggage  checks  and  railroad  tickets,  which  have  superseded 
the  former  process  of  "booking"  for  a  journey;  these  things 
are  not  kept  in  books,  but  are  loose  and  pass  from  hand  to  hand, 
suiting  every  one's  convenience  and  to  no  one's  harm. 

"  But  they  are  loose  and  fugitive,  mere  evidences  of  wealth, 
likely  to  be  lost,"  says  the  Mexican,  trudging  behind  his  silver- 
laden  mule.  "  They  may  be,"  says  the  financier,  "  but  it  is  every 
holder's  interest  to  keep  them  until  he  can  exchange  them  for 
something  at  least  as  good ;  it  is  to  this  we  trust  for  their  preser- 
vation, but  even  granting  their  occasional  loss,  far  better  in  the 
end  is  that  than  to  be  fettered  as  you  are  by  your  fears."     This 


78  OBJECTIONS  TO  PRESENT  METHODS. 

is  a  fair  statement  of  the  case  between  books  and  the  cards,  of 
which  an  account  will  be  given  later  on. 

Outline  of  the  Needs  of  a  Good  System  of  Book-keeping. 

1.  For  fair  competition  with  private  workshops,  whose  responsi- 
bilities are,  so  to  speak,  self-contained,  the  system  must  be  as 
easy  and  untrammeled  as  in  the  smallest  shop  in  the  land,  in 
which,  if  anything  is  wanted,  the  "  boss  "  gets  the  money  out  of 
the  till  and  steps  across  the  street  and  buys  it. 

2.  Yet  it  must  be  so  arranged  that  the  accounts  shall  always 
bear  the  closest  scrutiny ;  that  all  expenditures  may  be  distinctly 
represented  on  them ;  that  all  losses  and  wastings  be  charged  to 
some  general  account,  which  will  enhance  the  cost  of  the  special 
products  nearest  connected  with  it,  so  that  generally  all  expenses 
under  the  appropriations  of  Congress  by  which  they  are  allowed 
may  be  certainly  traced  and  surely  accounted  for. 

The  responsibility  for  a  correct  use  of  the  money  and  means 
in  the  Commanding  Officer's  hands  is  not  solely  limited  by  his 
discretion,  but  is  a  grave  trust,  concerning  which  the  accounts 
should  be  so  simple  and  easily  kept  as  to  afford  him  at  any 
moment  trustworthy  information  of  the  state  of  the  work  in  prog- 
ress and  of  the  funds  available  for  its  continuance.  Then  he 
and  his  subordinates  may  bend  their  energies  to  the  more  im- 
portant portions  of  their  duties,  confident  that  the  routine  part  of 
the  work  is  going  on  without  default. 

3.  In  order  that  the  system  may  not  be  burdensome  to  the 
polity  which  it  is  intended  to  serve,  it  must  be  simple  and  easily 
managed  by  a  low  grade  of  clerical  labor,  otherwise  its  cost  would 
be  apt  to  outweigh  the  advantages  which  it  proposes  to  afford. 

4.  Yet  it  should  not  be  thought  that  the  work  of  the  clerks 
can  be  done  by  foremen  or  workmen. 

The  workman  acts. 

The  foreman  regulates  the  workman's  acts. 

The  clerk  records  the  acts  of  both. 

5.  Although  workmen  and  foremen  should  not  act  as  clerks, 
yet,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  they  must  give  the  first  account 


NEEDS  OF  A  GOOD  SYSTEM.  79 

of  the  nature  of  their  acts  and  of  the  objects  on  which  they  are 
performed.  Every  workman  knows  better  what  he  is  doing  or 
has  been  doing  than  does  any  other  person,  clerk  or  foreman,  in 
the  factory.  Every  man  who  wants  suppHes,  knows  better  what 
he  wants  and  why  he  wants  it,  than  any  one  else  can  tell  him. 

So,  the  first  acts  of  record,  the  first  accounts  of  service,  and 
the  first  requests  for  material  should  be  made  by  the  man  most 
competent  to  judge  of  their  fitness.  These  acts  should  be  subject 
to  proper  revision,  but  no  amount  of  it  can  supply  the  initial 
tendency  to  truth  which  is  found  in  the  independent  statements 
of  those  most  closely  connected  with  the  acts  which  they  record. 

6.  Finally,  the  system  should   be  such,  workmanship  apart,  as 
to  demonstrate  the  efficiency  of  the   administration  by  the  true       1 
cost  of  its  finished  product  v I 


PART  III. 

DESCRIPTION    OF    PROPOSED 

METHOD. 
6 


c 

o 
U 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PROPOSED  ORGANIZATION  OF  AN  ARSENAL. 

Subalterns:  Responsible  for —      Accounted  for       Assisted  by — 

on — 

'l.   Paymaster Values Cash  papers. ..      Pay  Clerk. 

2.   Storekeeper Units  of  property..    Store  return. ..      Stock  Clerk. 

(Stock  Clerk  as  to 
units. 
Cost  Clerk  as  to 
values. 


I  would  divide  the  Arsenal  into  three  general  departments,  each 
independent  of  the  other,  but  all  directly  dependent  upon 
the  Commanding  Officer.  Several  functions  might  be  united  in 
the  same  person,  and  in  the  smaller  arsenals  the  Commanding 
Officer  might  perform  them  all,  as  he  does  now  in  strictly  mili- 
tary matters. 

His  assistants  would  be : 

1 .  The  Paymaster ;  responsible  for  values  only,  for  which  he 
accounts  on  his  cash  papers,  with  which  this  discussion  is  not  yet 
concerned. 

2.  The  Ordnance  Storekeeper;  responsible  for  units  of  prop- 
erty, for  which  he  accounts  on  the  arsenal  Store  return  and  its 
accompanying  papers,  prepared  by  the  Stock  Clerk. 

3.  The  Executive  Officer;  responsible  for  both  units  and 
values,  accounting  for  the  former  by  the  Current  service  return, 
and  for  the  latter  by  properly  balanced  statements  of  the  cost 
of  articles  fabricated  or  otherwise  transformed.  The  former  ac- 
countability is  cared  for  by  the  Stock  Clerk,  and  the  latter  by  the 
Cost  Clerk. 

By  sharing  the  services  of  the  stock  clerk  between  these  two 
officers  in  preparing  papers  which  have  so  much  in  common, 
much  work  can  be  saved,  and  the  result  of  what  work  is  done  be 
made  more  accurate. 


84  ORGANIZATION  OF  ARSENAL. 

The  Officer  in  Charge  of  the  shops,  as  he  is  now  called,  cor- 
responds most  nearly  to  the  Executive  Officer  proposed ;  but 
instead  of  his  present  merely  local  standing  I  would  propose  to 
put  him  on  the  same  footing  as  his  congener,  the  Ordnance 
Storekeeper,  and  make  his  position  like  that  of  the  Executive 
Officer  of  a  man-of-war,  or  the  Captain  of  a  navy  yard, — the 
official  right  hand  of  the  Commanding  Officer.  If  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, such  an  officer  has  been  established  at  some  of  the  large 
posts  garrisoned  by  the  line  of  the  army. 

By  this  arrangement  the  Commanding  Officer  would  be  identi- 
fied with  no  one  department,  but  would  be  the  critic  of  them  all ; 
and  his  officers  would  be  working  in  parallel  lines  to  accomplish 
the  purposes  of  their  common  head.     (See  p.  31  and  Chap.  X.) 


CHAPTER  IX. 

INSTRUMENTS   OF   THE    PROPOSED   SYSTEM. 

I.  Material  Instruments. 
Cards. 

Several  years  ago,  while  on  a  visit  to  that  gifted  man,  the  late 
Captain  William  Prince,  U.  S.  Ordnance  Department,  I  found 
him  preparing  an  index  on  what  seemed  a  novel  and  most  inge- 
nious plan. 

He  wrote  the  title  of  each  of  his  books  on  one  of  a  number 
of  small  cards,  and  then  underlined  or  checked  off  such  catch 
words  as  he  might  select  on  each  card.  Each  book  was  thus 
disposed  of  in  turn,  and  when  the  cards  containing  catch  words 
had  been  rewritten  with  the  catch  words  in  front,  the  cards  were 
sorted  alphabetically,  and  then  simply  copied  in  order  into  a 
book,  giving  an  index  by  titles,  authors  and  subjects,  with  such 
cross  references  as  appeared  suitable. 

Since  then  I  have  learned  how  the  same  card  system  is  applied 
in  the  Boston  and  other  public  libraries,  not  only  to  afford  this 
mere  facility  in  indexing,  but  to  serve  as  the  foundation  of  a 
system  of  book-keeping  as  well. 

In  general  terms,  as  I  understand  the  system,  each  book  is 
represented  by  one  card,  giving  title,  author's  name,  and  possibly 
a  synopsis  of  its  scope.  These  cards  are  sorted  in  drawers,  accord- 
ing to  subjects,  and  are  arranged  in  each  drawer  alphabetically. 

The  drawers  in  a  certain  chest  represent  the  books  on  hand : 
they  are  there  ready  for  consultation  and  for  the  corrections  and 
additions  which  the  catalogue  of  any  living  library  constantly 
requires.  No  perplexing  array  of  supplements  is  there,  each 
one  already  obsolescent  as  soon  as  it  sees  the  light ;  the  chest  of 
drawers  is  the  true  representative  of  the  contents  of  the  library  at 
any  given  moment. 


86  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

When  a  book  is  wanted,  the  corresponding  card  is  given  to  the 
librarian,  is  put  by  him  into  a  drawer  representing  the  outs, 
arranged,  it  may  be,  alphabetically  by  subscribers,  and  the  trans- 
action is  at  an  end. 

The  success  of  the  scheme  depends  upon  having  a  single, 
simple  representative  unit,  capable  of  combination  and  arrange- 
ment in  any  desired  variety  of  forms.  Like  mosaic  work  or 
printer's  type,  if  the  units  are  true,  they  can  be  combined  into  an 
endless  variety  of  patterns,  and  the  result  will  still  be  true  and 
stable. 

The  corresponding  feature  in  the  card  system  herein  proposed 
is,  that  for  every  act  or  name  to  be  recorded,  there  shall  be  a 
separate  card  ;  so  that,  the  cards  being  combined  or  classified,  the 
acts  or  names  they  represent  will  be  so,  too. 

For  this  purpose  I  propose  the  use  of  single  cards  for  all  initial 
records,  and  their  gradual  consolidation  by  the  simplest  mechan- 
ical means,  until  they  are  finally  transcribed  into  the  permanent 
books  of  record. 

TJie  independence  of  a  I'epresentative  unit  of  record  is  the  basis 
of  the  system  I  propose,  combined  with  the  use  of  a  nomenclature 
by  wJiich  all  acts  and  their  purposes  may  be  set  forth  by  the  actors 
in  such  form  as  to  be  intelligible  to  those  whose  proper  office  it  is  to 
enroll  and  classify  them. 

The  objection  to  this  plan  which  will  occur  to  many,  will  be 
to  the  great  number  of  cards  which  the  execution  of  such  a  scheme 
will  require.  In  regard  to  this  quite  natural  objection,  leaving 
out  of  question  the  benefits  which  actual  practice  has  shown  to 
follow  the  free  use  of  the  cards,  I  have  to  make  the  following 
reply : 

The  objection  may  be  to  the  number  of  cards  per se,  i,  or  to  the 
consequences  of  having  so  many  of  them.  The  consequences 
may  be  as  to  the  cost  of  the  cards  themselves,  2  ;  as  to  the  time 
spent  in  writing  on  them,  3,  with  the  disadvantages  following  the 
use  of  illiterate  labor,  4 ;  as  to  the  means  of  handling  and  con- 
densing the  great  numbers  likely  to  accrue  in  extensive  opera- 
tions, 5  ;  and  as  to  the  likelihood  of  their  loss,  6. 


MATERIAL  INSTRUMENTS.  87 

1.  Considerincif  the  objections  to  the  number  of  cards /r;*  sc,  the 
following  considerations  apply,  and  also  serve  to  express  analogi- 
cally some  of  their  advantages  : 

Generally  speaking,  the  lower  in  the  scale  of  combination  is  the 
unit,  the  easier  it  is  to  treat  it  independently  in  forming  such  new 
combinations  as  may  be  required.  This  applies  to  many  examples 
in  every-day  life.  Take  for  example  the  printer's  type,  divided  into 
single  letters  ;  how  much  better  it  lends  itself  to  forming  the  great 
variety  of  words  it  is  intended  to  multiply  and  preserve,  than  if 
whole  words  or  even  their  constituent  syllables  were  cast  as  single 
pieces  like  the  ideographic  characters  of  the  Chinese  or  the 
hieroglyphics  of  the  old  Egyptians  ! 

In  fact,  was  not  the  germ  of  Guttenberg's  invention,  not  that 
of  printing  only,  with  which  he  and  his  associates  are  credited, 
although  it  is  as  old  as  the  use  of  the  signet  ring,  but  the  printing 
with  movable  letters  ? 

So  in  building  construction,  consider  the  economical  advantages 
following  the  use  of  small  portable  bricks.  What  would  be 
thought  of  the  believer  in  ideographic  writing  or  in  monolithic 
building  who  opposed  modern  methods  because  they  require 
"  too  many  letters,"  or  "too  many  stones?"  So  with  chemistry,  a 
science  which,  like  the  higher  mathematics,  may  be  said  to  have 
been  created  by  an  atomic  nomenclature. 

2.  As  to  the  cost  of  the  cards,  it  may  possibly  be  greater  than 
that  of  the  books  now  used ;  but  this  is  a  question  which  can 
only  be  determined  by  experiment  on  a  scale  large  enough  to 
pay  for  their  printing  in  large  quantities.  I  understand  that  the 
last  contract  for  postal  cards  was  let  at  less  than  five  cents  per 
hundred. 

3.  As  to  the  time  lost  in  filling  them  up,  it  maybe  greater  than 
that  required  for  a  workman  to  find  the  foreman,  tell  him  his  needs, 
and  have  the  foreman  write  them  down,  but  this  is  doubtful. 

4.  Illiterate  workmen  are  rarely  employed  in  work  requiring  a 
careful  subdivision  of  their  time ;  but  when  this  is  otherwise,  it 
should  be  easy  to  provide  a  time-keeper,  or  to  require  the  writing 
to  be  done  by  some  of  their  comrades  or  superiors. 


88  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

5.  Cards  in  blank  are  to  be  supplied  to  all  requiring  them,  in  such 
abundance  that  no  transaction  need  ever  fail  of  immediate  record 
for  want  of  a  book  to  put  it  in.  Entries  are  to  be  made  in  pencil. 
By  means  of  rubber  type,  the  electric  or  cyclostilic  pen,  and 
stamps  of  various  kinds,  it  is  intended  to  reduce  the  writing  in 
any  one  instance  to  no  more  than  that  required  to  make  the 
necessary  entries  in  the  usual  books.  It  is  as  easy  to  write  an 
entry  on  a  card  as  it  is  to  write  it  in  a  book ;  but  once  written  on 
a  card  it  need  never  be  written  again,  while  with  books  every  re- 
handling  implies  transcription  with  increased  chances  of  error. 

The  cards,  on  the  contrary,  are  to  be  passed  from  hand  to 
hand  of  those  concerned,  each  one  deriving  from  the  card  such 
information  as  he  requires,  and  then  passing  it  on  toward  the 
office,  where  they  all  finally  converge  for  consolidation  and  record. 

The  successive  consolidation  of  the  cards  depends  upon  the 
facility  with  which  they  may  be  assorted  according  to  any  one  of 
the  various  classifications  which  may  be  desired.  By  this  sorting, 
items  of  the  same  class  are  always  found  together,  and  their 
several  aggregates  directly  determined.  Having  answered  one 
question,  the  cards  may  then  be  resorted  according  to  another 
inquiry,  and  so  on. 

The  cards  are  carried  where  needed  within  the  Arsenal  by  a 
sort  of  local  post-office. 

Sorting  is  done  in  racks  or  pigeon  holes  with  temporary  num- 
bers ;  signing  is  done  by  ticket  punches ;  and  the  final  filing  of 
cards  whose  race  is  run  is  done  in  trays,  all  of  patterns  to  be 
hereafter  described. 

6.  By  making  the  card,  before  it  reaches  the  office,  the  medium 
of  exchange  for  local  utilities,  and  by  providing  safe  and  simple 
means  of  transit  thither,  it  is  practically  never  lost.  But  since 
this  immunity  cannot  reasonably  be  supposed  to  continue  indefi- 
nitely, it  IS  well  to  explain  that  even  if  lost,  the  consequences 
are  not  more  serious  than  if  under  the  present  system  an  entry 
were  forgotten.     That  this  is  never  done,  who  shall  say? 


MATERIAL  INSTRUMENTS.  89 

The  following  are  the  cards  required  to  carry  out  the  system: 

1.  The  order  card  or  ticket. 

2.  The  service  card. 

3.  The  material  card. 

4.  The  correspondence  card. 

The  first  three  are  fully  described  hereafter. 

The  Correspondence  Card. 

This  card,  forming  no  essential  part  of  the  system  proposed, 
is  used  as  a  very  convenient  means  of  asking  and  answering  the 
thousand  and  one  little  questions  constantly  arising  between  the 
different  departments  of  any  large  administration,  concerning  which 
it  is  not  so  essential  to  have  an  immediate  reply  as  it  is  to  ask  the 
question  or  to  make  the  statement  while  the  need  of  it  is  fresh 
in  one's  mind.     They  are  memoranda  set  in  motion. 

One  side  is  blank  and  the  other  bears  a  double  column  of  the 
titles  and  their  abbreviations  belonging  to  the  persons  most  apt 
to  correspond.  One  column  is  headed  "  From  "  and  the  other 
"  To,"  so  that  a  line  drawn  obliquely  across  the  space  between 
serves  both  as  a  signature  and  an  address. 

To  continue  the  course  of  the  card,  as  is  often  necessary,  so 
that  question  and  answer  may  explain  each  other,  the  recipient 
continues  the  line  horizontally  towards  the  left  to  his  own  title 
and  then  obliquely  again  to  the  next  in  order  of  receipt,  and  so 
on.  To  designate  the  originator  of  the  question  he  should  draw 
the  line  through  his  own  name. 

The  messenger  always  takes  the  card  to  the  person  whose 
abbreviated  title  is  nearest  to  the  end  of  the  line.  Blank  spaces 
are  left  for  the  insertion  of  such  special  names  as  may  not  be  on 
the  printed  list.  The  same  arrangement  is  used  in  forwarding 
other  cards  requiring  action  by  different  sets  of  hands. 

The  actual  card  is  about  4^  in.  x  52  in. 


90 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Example  showing  use  of  Correspondence  Card. 


Face  of  Card. 
Showing  succession  of  correspondence. 


^nSo^^^  aoon  tout   ine   k/tovu   ^at= 
{uc/ae4  V6  c^onc  ^ 


tX   don  i  n.nozeff  cio  'uou  ?    Srn<fwet 


%Jrn    avout  ihiea    toeeK^    f%om   ine 
iinie  ine  cohfiet  cofncit. 


Back  of  Card. 
Showing  its  course  between  correspondents. 

COURSE   OF  THIS  CARD. 


From. 

To. 

/CO. 

CHIEF  CLERK,  -      -      .      .\ 

/lOI 

OBDNANCE                        \ 

/ 

STOREKEEPEB.      ^ 

/    0.  S-K. 

warehouses,  -     .     .     - 

Y  ^• 

MAGAZINE, 

A        M. 

SHOP-STORE,     ....        y 

^\   S-S. 

STOCK  CLERK,        .      .      . 

\  s.  c. 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICEB,  -J— 

^X.  0. 

COST  CLERK,     ....  ^S 

v^  c.  c. 

MI'^TFP   APM'^FEP               ' 

FOREMAN  OF — 

MACHINE  SHOP,  -      - 

20I 

STEAM,  WATER,  GAS, 

205 

CASE  SHOP,     -      -      - 

301 

LOADING  SHOP,  -      - 

401 

CARPENTER  SHOP,   - 

501 

PAINT  SHOP,  -      -      . 

601 

LABORERS,       -      -      - 

701 

BALLISTIC  OFFICEB,   • 

B.O. 

FOREMAN  OF — 

BALLISTIC   DIVISION, 

801 

OFFICEB  OF  THE  DAY, 

0.  D. 

COMMISSABY,       -     -     - 

C.S. 

QUARTEEMASTEB,  -     - 

Q.SI. 

ADJUTANT,      .... 

A. 

DET'M'T  C0M9IANDEB, 

C. 

Note.  —  In  starting  card,  draw   line 
through  your  name. 
Keep  lines  showing  course^  continuous. 


MATERIAL  INSTRUMENTS.  91 

Abbreviations  of  Title. 

Each  shop  or  department  is  supposed  to  contain  not  over  99 
workmen.  Then,  each  department  is  supposed  to  have  a  rep- 
resentative number,  which  may  well  be  given  in  the  order  followed 
by  the  work.     Thus  at  Frankford  Arsenal 

1  stood  for  the  office ; 

2  for  the  machine  shop ; 

3  for  the  case  shop ; 

4  for  the  loading  shop  ; 

5  for  the  carpenter  shop ; 

6  for  the  paint  shop ; 

7  for  the  laborers  or  outside  department. 

This  arrangement  would  be  varied  according  to  the  work  of 
the  place.  Frankford  Arsenal  is  selected  throughout  this  dis- 
cussion as  a  type,  not  only  for  its  associations,  but  because  the 
intrinsic  complexity  of  the  operations  which  are  there  recorded 
makes  it  probable  that  a  method  which  is  suited  to  its  special 
needs  will  also  serve  more  elementary  organizations  by  omitting 
such  portions  as  they  do  not  require. 

The  men  are  numbered  according  to  the  department  in  which 
they  are  employed;  thus  the  chief  clerk  is  loi,  the  next  clerk 
102,  and  so  on;  the  foreman  of  the  machine  shop  is  201,  and 
the  machinists  202,  203,  and  so  on.  A  man's  number  thus  tells 
at  a  glance  where  he  belongs. 

But  numbers  are  not  exclusively  used  for  this  purpose.  The 
officers  of  the  arsenal,  the  principal  clerks,  and  the  keepers 
of  the  principal  magazines  are  known  by  their  initials,  as  seen  on 
the  back  of  card.  This  does  not  prevent  their  being  borne  by 
their  numbers  also  on  the  rolls  of  the  department  to  which  they 
belong. 

Lastly  the  outside  world  is  designated  by  Z.  This  includes 
every  person  or  agency  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Com- 
manding Officer. 

Signatures  by  Punching. 

The  ordinary  railroad  ticket  punch  affords  the  means  of  affixing 
a  positive,  permanent,  distinctive,  and  ready  signature  to  all  cards 


92  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

requiring  exact  authentication.  These  punches  are  provided  for 
all  those  whose  titles  appear  on  the  back  of  the  correspondence 
card ;  their  marks,  like  the  abbreviations,  are  as  soon  learned  by 
all  hands  as  are  the  owners'  names. 

Stamps. 

Dating  stamps  are  much  used  as  a  means  of  tracing  delays, 
etc.  They  are  of  the  pattern  of  the  ordinary  line  dater,  consisting 
of  rubber  type,  printing  as  follows:  "  Mar.  i6,  1884."  They  cost 
only  $2  complete,  and  should  be  at  every  foreman's  desk. 

The  stock  clerk  should  have  a  consecutive  numbering  stamp. 
When  automatic,  this  can  be  bought  for  about  $30 ;  it  runs  up  to 
1,000,000.  The  stock  and  cost  clerks  should  have  each  a  dating 
stamp,  combined  with  one  indicating  the  entry  by  them  of  the 
information  given  by  the  card. 

Since  so  much  depends  upon  sorting  and  arranging  the  cards, 
the  following  special  mechanical  appliances  have  been  devised. 

Racks. 

These  are  intended  for  displaying  single  cards.  They  consist 
of  vertical  wooden  strips  about  i  inch  x  |  x  4  ft.  long,  with  slanting 
saw  kerfs  about  i  o  inches  apart  along  the  narrow  edge,  into  which 
the  cards  are  slipped.  The  order  rack  for  a  large  arsenal  should 
not  hold  less  than  lOO  cards.  It  is  conveniently  placed  against 
the  wall ;  its  topmost  cards  should  be  within  easy  sight  and  reach. 
The  strips  should  be  grouped  by  shops,  so  that  a  glance  will  tell 
what  work  is  going  on  in  each  of  them. 

Pigeon  Holes. 

These  are  simply  formed  of  a  series  of  shelves  about  4  inches 
apart;  their  width  is  one  or  two  inches  less  than  the  length  of 
the  cards  to  be  contained  in  them.  The  compartments  are 
formed  by  vertical  strips  nailed  against  the  face  of  the  shelves,  so 
as  to  admit  the  cards  freely  between  them.  The  back  may  well 
be  formed  by  the  wall. 

Over  each  pigeon  hole  is  partly  gummed  a  target  paster  bearing 


nnnnnr-irini-inn 

1 

1 

1 

1 

rpOHT-ELEV'ATIOH. 

PIGEON    HOLES. 


■Till'  i=;^>..\.. 


eNd. 


WORKMAN'S  RACK. 


u 


SWINGING  TRAYS. 


AiA!L\(truij  »wtLii,a  cut  4«T 


w 


jjLjjjijji,.a 


S,j.  I,. ,1      .1--"      I      ■]'     t^'/,.a 


DETAILS  OF    SWINGING  TRAYS 


Ju.- ■: 


u II Jl 


!! 1 I! U il i 


SkAl   I       '       I        I        I        I        I        I        I        I        I        I      1  \,vi.Vl4 


G 


o 

o 

0 

o 
o 

o 

o 

o 

0 

0 
0 

o 

0 

o 

o 

0 
0 

0 

0 

« 

0 

o 
o 

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0 

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p 
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■B\«i-V.. 

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° 

T^ 


5.\.V. 


96  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

the  number  of  some  unfinished  job.  This  is  so  arranged  that 
when  the  job  is  finished,  the  paster  may  be  torn  off,  carrying  the 
number  with  it. 

Trays. 

It  is  often  desired  to  have  large  accumulations  of  cards  belong- 
ing to  completed  jobs  so  arranged  as  to  be  readily  consulted. 
For  this  purpose  the  swinging  trays,  elsewhere  shown,  are  very 
convenient. 

The  device  is  like  an  ordinary  chest  of  drawers,  except  that 
instead  of  sliding  the  drawers  out  and  in,  they  are  swung  on  the 
rollers  from  which  they  hang.  The  stops  shown  at  {a)  on  the 
cords  prevent  the  trays  from  tipping  in  one  direction,  while  they 
permit  them  to  tip  freely  in  the  other,  so  as  to  expose  their  con- 
tents in  the  most  convenient  way  for  examination. 

To  examine  the  contents  of  the  top  tray,  the  front  of  it  should 
be  depressed,  carrying  with  it  the  trays  lying  beneath ;  the  lower 
trays  should  be  swung  out  first,  and  then  tipped.  They  are 
divided  by  partitions  parallel  to  the  plane  in  which  they  swing,  so 
that  being  filled  at  first  in  the  end  of  each  compartment  furthest 
from  the  front,  the  weight  of  the  contents  brings  the  stops 
naturally  against  the  pulleys,  and  preserves  the  tray  in  a  horizontal 
position,  to  which,  when  released  from  the  inclined  position 
suitable  for  examination,  they  tend  of  themselves  to  return. 

This  arrangement  is  simple,  cheap,  and  is  found  in  practice  to 
be  very  convenient. 

Post-office. 

In  order  to  secure  the  prompt  and  safe  distribution  of  the 
cards,  the  following  postal  system  was  devised: 

By  each  principal  desk  is  a  box  with  two  divisions  labeled 
"In"  and  "Out."  These  boxes  are  visited  once  an  hour,  or 
oftcner,  by  the  office  orderly  for  the  office,  and  an  errand  boy 
for  the  shops,  and  their  contents  collected  and  distributed  in  each 
jurisdiction. 

For  passing  the  mail  from  one  jurisdiction  to  the  other,  the 
mail  pouch  is  hung  upon  a  movable  hook,  connected  with  a  sign 
outside  the  building,  which  sign,  by  the  weight  of  the  pouch 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE.  97 

acting  on  the  hook,  is  then  exposed,  displaying  "To  the  Shops" 
or  "  To  the  Office,"  as  the  case  may  be.  It  is  made  the  duty  of 
any  employee,  passing  by,  to  carry  the  pouch  to  its  destination, 
where  its  contents  are  distributed  by  the  means  already  described. 
In  practice  there  is  generally  enough  casual  passing  to  and  fro 
to  make  special  trips  unnecessary. 

This,  then,  forms  the  entire  plant  of  the  system :  cards,  racks, 
punches,  stamps  and  a  very  few  books  of  final  record. 

II.  Symbolic  Nomenclature. 
General  Remarks. 

We  have  seen  that  the  true  cost  of  the  product  is  made  up  of 
three  components,  viz. : 

1.  Direct  charges  for  labor. 

2.  Direct  charges  for  material. 

3.  Incidental  charges  for  miscellaneous  expenses. 

The  following  are  the  means  adopted  to  make  these  charges 
definite  and  independent  of  the  variations  due  to  ordinary  de- 
scription : 

For  both  services  (labor)  and  material,  a  system  of  symbols  is 
used  which  specifically  indicates  not  only  on  what  job  the  expend- 
iture has  been  made,  but  the  character  of  the  expenditure,  and 
even  in  some  cases  to  which  operation  on  what  component  of  the 
product  the  outlay  should  be  charged.  These  symbols  are 
provided  for  on  all  cards  in  the  spaces  headed  S-0. ;  C. ;  O. ; 
and  N.     See  chapters  XII  and  XIII. 

S-O.  stands  for  Shop-Order  ;  C.  for  Character  of  expenditure  ; 
O.  for  the  Object  on  which  made ;  and  N.  for  the  Number  of 
the  operation  for  which  the  expenditure  was  required. 

The  idea  is  to  keep  a  strict  account  with  each  job  by  such  a 
simple  and  invariable  method  that  the  same  work  will  always  be 
called  by  the  same  name,  and  that  the  resulting  cost  may  be 
readily  analyzed  by  names  as  minutely  as  it  may  ever  be  required 
without  expecting  clerks  to  have  mechanical  knowledge,  or  requir- 
ing mechanics  to  do  the  work  of  clerks. 

Experience  shows  that  symbols  are  readily  learned  by  all  con- 
7 


98  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

cerned  ;  in  fact  their  simplicity,  definiteness  and  brevity  are  such 
that  men  generally  prefer  to  use  them  alone  without  filling  up  the 
space  left  for  such  short  explanatory  remarks  as  may  serve  to 
verify  their  correctness  or  further  define  them.  One  reason  for 
this  seems  to  be  that  they  actually  name  the  fundamental  purpose 
of  the  outlay,  instead  of  merely  suggesting  it,  as  is  usually  done, 
by  stating  the  object  worked  on  and  allowing  its  purpose  to  be 
inferred. 

The  mass  of  information  afforded  by  the  symbols  may  oe 
utilized  in  gross  or  detail,  as  may  be  desired.  There  is  no  obliga- 
tion to  use  it  all,  nor  does  the  use  of  any  portion  of  it  imply  even 
the  consideration  of  any  other.  The  information  is  there,  already 
digested  and  capable  of  being  assimilated  to  form  truthful  replies 
to  whatever  questions  may  be  asked.  This  has  been  accomplished 
by  starting  the  charges  aright;  by  recording  their  exact  purpose 
at  the  moment  when  it  was  best  known. 

Nor  does  the  amount  of  detailed  information  hamper  the 
accountant  in  attaining  immediate  gross  results.  This  idea  is 
illustrated  in  the  conventional  tree  shown  on  a  succeeding  page. 
The  higher  we  carry  the  analysis,  the  clearer  is  the  definition ; 
but  this  does  not  prevent  a  ready,  though  ruder,  determination  at 
any  lower  point.  We  may  simply  fell  the  tree ;  we  may  lop  off 
its  main  branches ;  or  we  may  first  fell  it  and  dissect  its  members 
at  leisure.  Thus  the  accountant  may  simply  report  the  gross 
cost  of  the  job  ;  he  may  separate  the  plant;  or  he  may  ascertain 
the  cost  of  each  or  any  of  the  many  operations  performed  on  its 
component  parts. 

Where  the  analysis  ends,  the  system  must  begin,  that  is,  that 
the  first  charges  for  labor  and  material  must  be  as  specifically 
stated  as  the  analysis  may  ever  require  the  cost  to  be  given. 
Hence  the  first  steps  in  the  procurement  of  material  or  in  charg- 
ing for  labor  are  preferably  made  by  the  workman  himself,  subject 
to  correction  by  his  foreman.  There  the  task  of  both  ends  ;  the 
subsequent  combination  of  the  symbols  is  an  easy  matter  to  the 
accountant,  who  can  now  treat  them  mechanically,  without  neces- 
sarily knowing  anything  of  the  processes  which  they  represent. 

The  apparent  complexity  of  the  symbols  is  diminished  by 


5  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE.  99 

reflecting  with  how  small  a  portion  of  them  each  class  of  work- 
men, and  particularly  each  individual  workman,  has  to  deal. 

Explanation  of  Symbols. 

I.  ^-O,  or  Shop-Order. 
This  indicates  the  job  for  which  the  expenditure  was  made ;   it 
is  identified  by  its  serial  number  in  the  order  book. 

2.   C.  or  Character. 

The  job  being  thus  made  known,  an  evident  distinction  arises 
as  to  the  character  or  purpose  of  the  work  done  on  it.  It  may  be 
permanent  in  its  character,  done,  so  to  speak,  to  last  for  all  time,  or 
at  least  for  the  year  with  the  accounts  of  which  we  are  engaged ; 
or  it  may  be  transient  in  its  nature,  of  a  necessity  recurring  every 
time  the  operation  is  repeated.  The  most  evident  illustration  of 
this  difference  is  found  in  the  relation  between  a  working  drawing 
and  the  thing  made  in  accordance  with  its  requirements ;  let  us 
say  a  machine  constructed  by  virtue  of  Shop-Order  No.  789. 

The  drawing  once  made  answers  for  all  similar  machines  to  be 
hereafter  made ;  they  will  all  profit  by  its  existence,  and  hence 
should  bear  their  share  of  its  cost  instead  of  having  the  cost  of 
the  drawing  go  to  swell  unduly  the  charges  for  the  first  machine 
constructed. 

That  is,  if  other  machines  are  actually  so  made.  If  but  one  is 
made,  or  is  likely  to  be  made,  the  cost  of  the  drawing  belongs  to 

as  much  as  that  of  any  other  part  of  the  machine,  and  it 
should  be  so  charged. 

P.  Plant. 

We  meet  the  difficulty  at  the  start  by  charging  the  work  and 
material  on  the  drawing  to  S-0.  789,  adding  P.  in  the  second 
column  (headed  C,  Character)  to  show  that  the  outlay  belongs  *.o 
the  Plant  of  the  order,  so  that  the  card  reads  789,  P. 

Expenditures  for  patterns,  gauges  and  special  tools  belong  to 
this  category,  and  are  designated  by  using  in  the  proper  column 
the  letter  P,  which  may  be  taken  to  mean  either  plant,  perma?ient 
or  preparatiott. 


loo  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

W.    Work, 

Outlays,  though,  which  are  made  upon  the  machine  itself  and 
which  would  have  to  be  repeated  every  time  such  a  machine  was 
constructed,  are  represented  by  W.,  standing  for  Work. 

The  difference  between  P.  and  W.  is  that  between  the  con- 
struction and  operating  accounts  in  railroad  book-keeping. 

(Note. — Product  would  perhaps  be  a  better  word  than  Work  but  for  the  fact  that  its 
initial  letter  is  the  same  as  that  of  Plant,  the  meaning  of  which  is  so  apposite  and  well 
understood  that  an  exact  equivalent  for  it  would  be  hard  to  find.) 

Charges  for  fitting,  assembling,  painting  and  possibly  boxing 
this  machine  would  thus  be  charged  to  789,  W.  Now,  when  the 
job  is  done,  we  may  either  give  the  cost  of  789,  including  both 
P.  and  W. ;  or,  deducting  the  cost  of  Plant,  be  prepared  to  state 
with  exactness  for  how  much  such  machines  could  be  duplicated 
in  future,  the  plant  being  on  hand. 

There  is  no  room  for  the  uncertainty  and  looseness  arising 
from  charging  plant  to  the  general  shop  account,  nor  for  the  wide 
differences  otherwise  existing  under  present  methods,  between 
the  cost  of  the  first  and  subsequent  machines.  The  charges  are 
made  to  the  most  probable  order  first,  but  are  so  identified  as 
to  be  readily  distinguished  and  separated  afterwards  if  desired. 

The  same  principle  applies  in  standing  orders.  (Chap.  XI.) 
Work  permanent  in  its  effects  is  indicated  by  P.,  and  that  merely 
done  to  keep  things  in  running  order  by  W.  This  distinction  is 
easily  observed  until  questions  of  repair  arise ;  here  it  is  often 
perplexing.  Such  questions  are  best  settled  with  reference  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  involved,  putting  extensive  repairs  under 
P.,  and  minor  ones  under  W.  What  constitutes  extensive  repairs 
must  be  left  to  some  one's  judgment.  It  is  best  to  indicate  the 
category  to  which  the  expenditure  belongs  on  the  order  authoriz- 
ing it. 

A.  Attendance. 

Charges  are  thus  broadly  separated  into  the  P.  and  W.  classes, 
but  for  closer  analysis  the  latter  may  be  further  sub-divided  as 
follows : 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE.  loi 

Besides  the  employees  directly  engaged  upon  the  tangible 
product  of  an  establishment,  there  are  many  whose  services, 
although  essential  to  the  final  issue,  are  easily  lost  sight  of  in 
computing  its  cost.  There  are  foremen,  clerks,  engineers,  fire- 
men, porters,  oilers  and  sweepers,  and  generally  speaking  those 
whose  services  are  permanently  required,  independently  of  the 
amount  of  the  output. 

Their  services,  being  recurrent,  belong  to  the  W.  class,  but  for 
the  sake  of  distinction  from  the  operative  labor  which  they  organ- 
ize and  assist,  they  are  designated  by  the  letter  A — Attendance. 
An  example  of  the  utility  of  this  subdivision  is  found  in  manu- 
factures by  machinery  in  large  quantities  of  staple  products,  such 
as  cartridges,  hardware,  clothing,  etc.,  where  the  division  of  labor 
has  led  to  its  constant  employment  in  certain  special  lines. 

Experience  has  shown  the  economy  of  havmg  a  cheap  grade 
of  labor  to  run  a  number  of  machines  in  charge  of  an  experienced 
mechanic.  The  operatives  return  their  time  under  W. ;  the 
mechanic  under  A.  This  gives  a  chance  of  ascertaining  the  true 
cost  of  operations  in  which  the  quantity  of  operative  labor  varies, 
and  of  those  in  w^hich  the  cost  of  attendance  may  possibly  un- 
wittingly consume  the  saving  due  to  the  cheaper  operative  labor 
employed. 

Were  it  not  lor  the  confusion  likely  to  result  from  a  use  of  the 
word  "  plant "  otherwise  than  as  described  page  99,  labor  returned 
as  A.  might  be  called  the  "  labor  plant"  of  the  establishment. 

T.   Tools. 

Next  comes  as  a  component  part  of  W.,  Tools,  —  symbol  T. 

In  the  manufactures  above  described  great  numbers  of  tools 
are  consumed  in  the  execution  of  the  work:  dies  and  punches, 
taps,  files,  etc.  When  the  manufacture  is  sufficiently  extended 
to  make  this  consumption  a  matter  of  moment,  its  recurrence 
takes  it  from  the  region  of  plant,  and  makes  it  belong  to  W. 

Tools  in  tills  special  sense  may  be  defined  as  the  perishable 
portions  of  machines  luhich  act  directly  upon  the  objects  of  the 
special  manufacture  ajid  are  subject  to  consumption  from  wear 
during  the  execution  of  the  order  for  which  they  are  made. 


I02  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  all  moving  parts  of  the  machine  are  also 
subject  to  wear ;  but  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  properly  dis- 
tributing the  resulting  charges,  and  to  the  greater  permanency  of 
machines  in  comparison  with  the  tools  which  they  hold,  the 
maintenance  of  the  machines  belongs  to  P. 

It  will  be  seen  that  charges  for  tools,  as  such,  must  be  for  objects 
of  staple  manufacture;  when  consumed  in  miscellaneous  work, 
tools  are  charged  to  the  standing  order  to  which  they  belong 
under  the  head  of  W.,  simply.  This  follows  the  general  rule  that 
A.  and  T.  belong  to  W.,  and  may  be  considered  as  W.,  except  when 
special  analysis  is  required  of  its  components. 

Tree  Diagram. 

Many  of  the  ideas  expressed  in  this  discussion  are  capable  of 
representation  in  the  accompanying  diagram,  the  peculiar  form 
of  which  is  imposed  by  the  impossibility  of  using  suitably  the 
brackets  generally  employed  in  graphical  analysis. 

We  see  the  main  constituents  of  cost,  the  direct  charges  for 
labor  and  material,  combining  to  form  the  resulting  product. 
This  product  is  divided  between  Plant  and  Work,  and  while  Plant 
remains  untouched  throughout,  the  higher  we  get  on  the  tree,  the 
more  the  Work  element  is  divided. 

First  comes  the  offshoot  for  Attendance,  and  later,  that  for 
Tools ;  until,  when  the  analysis  is  complete,  all  the  elements  are 
shown.  The  main  difficulty  lies  in  expressing  the  idea  that  Work, 
though  capable  of  subdivision,  retains  its  character  unaltered  in 
the  undivided  remainder. 

The  letters  above  show  the  symbols  proper  for  each  element 
of  the  analysis ;  and  also,  by  means  of  brackets,  indicate  how  T. 
and  A,  may  be  combined  into  W.,  by  simply  neglecting  the  dif- 
ferences between  them. 

The  column  of  Shop  Orders  alongside  is  intended  to  show  how 
far  the  analysis  should  be  carried  in  recording  charges.  Thus, 
while  we  reserve  the  most  extended  analysis  for  the  work  con- 
cerning which  the  most  exact  knowledge  is  required, — the  staple 
product  of  the  particular  workshop  in  question, — it  is  not  intended 
that  any  charges  for  Tools,  as  such,  shall  be  made  for  orders  such 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE.  103 

as  214,  215,  216  and  387.*  Nor  does  Attendance  enter  on  orders 
217  to  223  inclusive,  nor  on  the  special  orders  which  do  not 
belong  to  the  staple  products  of  the  arsenal.  Such  orders  take 
no  heed  of  these  minor  differences  and  only  distinguish  between 
Plant  and  Work  in  gross, 

*  For  an  explanation  of  these  numbers  see  Chap,  XI. 


104 

P. 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


SHOP-ORDERS 

TO  WHICH 

Symbols  of  Char- 
acter APPLY. 

For  staple  products 

(yellow  tickets), 

and  No.  213. 


Nos.  214,  215,  216, 
and  No.  387. 


All  orders  for 
local  and  issue  work 

(blue  and  red 

tickets), 

and  Nos.  217-223. 


S  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE.  1 05 

Brief  Definition  of  the  Symbols  of  Character. 

P.  refers  to  special  tools,  such  as  patterns,  models,  drawings 
and  gauges,  made  under  the  general  provisions  of  a  special  order, 
which  will  have  a  permanent  useful  value  apart  from  that  of 
the  product  of  the  order,  after  the  order  is  filled.  It  also  refers 
to  machines,  fixtures  and  tools  in  current  service  (except  perish- 
able tools  solely  for  staple  objects)  held,  and  important  repairs 
to  the  same  made,  under  a  standing  order. 

W.  refers  to  labor  and  material  required  to  execute  a  special 
or  a  general  order  from  which  no  product  follows  but  that  which 
is  actually  called  for  therein.      It  also  refers  to  the  product. 

A.  refers  specially  to  the  labor  of  superintendence,  and  to  that 
of  clerks,  porters,  oilers  and  firemen. 

T.  refers  specially  to  perishable  tools  used  in  making  staple 
objects. 

3.  ^,^  or  Object. 

Whether  the  third  and  fourth  spaces,  yet  to  be  discussed,  which 
refer  to  the  specific  object  worked  on  and  to  the  operation  per- 
formed on  it,  are  to  be  filled  or  not,  depends  entirely  upon  the 
value  of  the  information  which  the  filling  of  these  spaces  will  give. 
If  detailed  knowledge  is  or  may  be  required,  there  is  no  way  of 
obtaining  it  correctly  except  from  data  given  in  like  detail. 

Where  the  object  worked  on  is  a  staple  object  of  manufacture 
it  is  given  a  symbolic  name  represented  by  a  combination  of  let- 
ters and  figures  appearing  on  the  Service  and  Material  cards 
under  the  heading  O.,  or  object. 

The  necessity  for  symbols  of  objects,  the  difficulty  of  providing 
them,  and  the  best  way  of  overcoming  that  difficulty  are  so  well 
described  by  Mr.  Obcrlin  Smith,  President  of  the  Fcrracute 
Machine  Works,  Bridgeton,  N.  J.,  in  a  paper  read  before  the 
American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers,  that  I  cannot  do 
better  than  transcribe  his  article  entire.  See  page  iio.  His 
paper  has  been  of  great  assistance  in  this  portion  of  my  subject, 
and  its  principles  have  been  found  capable  of  an  application  far 
beyond  its  immediate  scope. 


io6  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Symbolic  Nomenclature  of  Objects  Pertaining  to  Staple 

Manufactures. 

Definitions. 

1.  A  staple  product  or  staple  is  one  of  the  principal  productions 
of  a  given  workshop,  concerning  which  in  all  its  parts  definite 
economical  information  is  wanted. 

It  comprises  all  the  parts  needed  for  a  complete  mechanical 
contrivance,  assembled,  and  generally  boxed  ready  for  shipment. 
Examples : 

A  carriage  complete. 

A  set  of  harness,  packed. 

Muskets,  cartridges,  etc.,  packed. 

2.  A  piece  is  that  portion  of  a  staple  product  which  is  not 
meant  to  be  taken  apart  by  ordinary  means. 

Examples : 

Each  spoke,  or  the  tire  of  a  wheel. 

Each  link  of  a  chain. 
Two  or  more  elementary  pieces  united,  as  by  welding  or  riveting, 
become  a  new  piece. 
Example : 

A  section  of  chain. 

3.  A  component  is  a  simple  mechanical  instrument  formed  by 
combining  pieces  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  easily  taken  apart. 

Examples : 

The  felloes  of  a  wheel  united  to  form  a  rolling  rim. 
The  sections  of  a  patent  hub,  united  to  serve  in  distributing 
weight  to  the  rim. 

4.  A  member  is  similarly  formed  by  combining  components 
for  the  accomplishment  of  a  definite  mechanical  purpose. 

Examples : 

The  wheel  for  diminishing  friction. 

The  pole  for  directing  the  vehicle. 

The  lock  of  a  gun  for  firing  the  charge. 

The  barrel  of  a  gun  for  containing  and  directing  the  discharge. 

The  box  for  containing  the  other  parts  united. 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE.  107 

Note. — The  line  between  members  and  components  is  necessarily  an  uncertain  one 
and  depends  greatly  upon  the  nature  and  number  of  the  parts  classified;  convenience 
also  enters.  The  difference  is  mainly  that  of  complexity  of  function.  Yet,  a 
ramrod  may  be  either  a  piece,  a  member  or  a  component,  according  to  the  way  it  is 
regarded.  In  such  cases  it  would  be  best  to  use  the  name  highest  on  the  scale,  as  it 
will  give  room  for  future  additions.  For  example,  page  120,  the  breech  screw  is  named 
B.  30,  although  it  is  a  single  piece;  this  is  done  so  that  if  this  part  should  ever  become 
composite,  there  would  be  room  from  21  to  30  for  the  designation  of  each  of  its  pieces, 
the  component  number  remaining  unchanged. 

Notation. 

1.  When  the  Shop-Order  number  is  not  sufficiently  explicit,  the 
staple  is  designated  by  as  many  descriptive  letters,  not  exceeding 
three,  as  may  be  required  for  the  purpose. 

Of  these  three  letters  the  last  one  tells  the  particular  class  of 
staple  referred  to,  and  the  first  two  define  the  pattern  of  that  class. 

Thus,  among  arms,  S-F-R.  means  Spring-Field  Rifle ;  S-N-R. 
Spe-Ncer  Rifle ;  H-K-R.  Hotch-Kiss  Rifle ;  H-K-C.  Hotch-Kiss 
Carbine,  etc.  R.  and  C.  give  the  class,  and  the  other  letters  the 
patterns. 

For  cartridge  making,  B.  means  ball,  and  O.  blank,  the  two  main 
classes  of  cartridges.  F-R-B.  means  Folded-head-Rifle-Ball  (car- 
tridge understood);   S-C-0.  Solid-head-Carbine-Blank,  etc. 

These  descriptive  letters  correspond  to  Mr.  Oberlin  Smith's 
machine  symbols,  page  116. 

2.  The  member  symbol  is  a  letter;  for  examples  of  this  and 
following  cases,  see  lists  hereafter. 

3.  The  component  symbol  is  a  number  ending  in  O.,  following 
the  member  letter,  thus:  A.  20;   B.  30;   A.  130. 

4.  The  piece  symbol  is  a  digital  number  following  the  letter  of 
the  member  to  which  the  piece  belongs,  thus :  A.  i  ;  A.  2 ;  A. 
3;   A.  14;   A.  29,  etc. 

Remarks. 
I.  Related  pieces  are  given  consecutive  numbers,  forming 
groups,  the  summation  of  which  into  components  is  indicated  by 
the  next  higher  multiple  of  ten.  Vacancies  in  the  digital  scale 
are  left  open  for  expansion.  Thus,  pieces  i,  2,  3,  etc.,  are  com- 
bined into  the  component  10.  The  pieces  for  the  next  component 
are  numbered  from  1 1  up,  and  the  next  component  is  20,  and  so  on. 


io8  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

To  which  set  of  ten  the  piece  number  belongs  depends  upon 
the  number  of  the  corresponding  component ;  and  this,  as  ex- 
plained in  the  next  remark,  upon  its  place  in  the  order  of  com- 
bination with  other  components  to  form  the  corresponding 
member.  This  establishes  a  common  principle  by  which  sub- 
stantially the  same  notation  might  be  determined  by  independent 
notators  working  on  the  same  staple. 

2.  The  union  of  any  component  to  the  principal  component  of' 
the  member  to  which  it  belongs  is  represented  by  adding  lOO  to 
the  number  of  the  former  component.     Thus,  A.  120  means  that 
A.  20  has  been  assembled  to  A.  10,  etc. 

This  assumes  in  the  order  of  assembling  a  certain  sequence  by 
which  a  number  over  100  represents  the  combination  of  all  the 
parts  above  it  on  the  list.  For  otherwise  the  number  of  imper- 
fect combinations  represented  would  exceed  the  limits  of  sim- 
plicity. If  such  cases  occur,  they  may  be  met  by  qualifying  the 
symbolical  statement  by  ordinary  language,  thus,  "  S-F-R-S.  170, 
without  band  springs,"  etc.     See  page  120. 

The  separate  enumeration  of  each  of  the  pieces  or  components 
in  the  combination  would  not  answer  the  purpose,  for  we  would 
lose  the  sense  of  fitness  for  joint  action  given  by  a  joint  symbol. 
For  example,  any  one  asking  for  a  watch  would  be  disappointed 
in  getting  only  its  loose  components,  the  efficient  working  of 
which  would  depend  more  or  less  upon  the  manner  in  which  they 
would  be  assembled.  The  tendency  of  modern  machine  work 
is  to  disintegrate  the  unity  of  "  components  "  by  increasing  the 
interchangeability  of  their  "  pieces." 

3.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  when  the  Shop-Order  number  is 
sufficiently  descriptive,  only  the  member  symbol  will  be  required. 
This  limits  the  full  symbol  name  to  use  in  marking  tools,  pat- 
terns, drawings,  etc.,  and  for  defining  staple  objects  worked  on 
under  standing  shop-orders. 

4.  Only  so  many  symbols  are  given  as  are  needed  to  identify 
the  part.  Thus,  for  receivers,  breech-blocks,  locks,  band-springs, 
etc.,  which  are  common  to  both  rifle  and  carbine,  the  descriptive 
initials  R.  and  C.  may  be  omitted.  So  with  tools  and  append- 
ages which  belong  to  all  arms  alike,  and  with  parts  like  barrels 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE.  109 

in  such  stages  of  manufacture  as  to  make  their  destination  uncer- 
tain, the  indications  of  pattern  are  also  omitted. 

For  a  similar  reason  a  completed  member  requires  no  number, 
for  it  expresses  the  union  of  all  its  components.  It  is  like  the 
name  of  a  family  of  which  we  call  the  members  John  Smith,  Ann 
Smith,  etc.,  and  designate  them  collectively  as  the  Smiths,  what- 
ever their  number.  To  pursue  the  analogy,  John  Smith's  leg 
would  be  a  component  of  that  member  of  the  Smith  family,  and 
his  foot  a  piece  of  that  component,  etc. 

So,  also,  when  members  are  united  we  drop  the  member  symbol, 
because  the  combination  can  no  longer  refer  to  any  one  of  them. 
Their  union  forms  the  staple  in  various  stages  of  completeness, 
the  most  advanced  of  which  we  designate  by  the  descriptive 
symbols  only.  Having  advanced  as  far  as  possible,  all  further 
progress  must  be  negative ;  consequently  additions  to  the  symbol 
of  completeness  indicate  increasing  degrees  of  departure  from  it. 
These  additions  are  numbers  progressively  arranged. 

5.  I  would  reverse  the  last  recommendation  of  Mr.  Smith  relat- 
ing to  obsolete  objects,  by  giving  to  the  yfri-/ model  of  any  object 
its  plain  number  and  designating  any  changes  from  that  model 
by  a  suffix.     The  other  method  takes  the  back  track  too  often. 

For  example,  supposing  the  symbols  to  have  been  in  operation 
for  the  last  eleven  years,  the  receiver,  model  1868,  would  be 
S-F-B.  11;  when  shortened  in  1870,  it  would  have  become 
S-F-B.  II,  a;  altered  to  cal.  45  in  1873,  it  would  have  been 
called  S-F-B.  \\,b,  and  changed  by  the  memorandum  of  July  i, 
1879,  it  would  now  be  S-F-B.  \\,  c. 

Such  a  course  would  deal  with  each  change  directly  when  it 
was  made,  would  be  historical,  suggestive  and  most  convenient 
in  marking  drawings,  tools,  patterns,  gauges  and  obsolete  com- 
ponents in  store. 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

SYNOPSIS. 

Proposed  Symbolic  Nomenclature  of  Staple  Products. 


Objects 
are  des- 
ignated 
by 


Numer-   T Digits,  indicating..   Pieces.  \      These    parts    unite   with 

als,  end-<  I  others  of  the  same  kind  to 

ing  in     (_  Ciphers,    indicating  Conipoiienls.    >  form  the  next  kind  below  in 

J  order.     Members    unite   to 
,  Letters,  indicating Members.         J  form  the  staple  product. 


Every  minor  object  requires  at  least  the  member  letter  and  a 
number  to  define  it.  To  the  member  letter  are  prefixed  as  many 
descriptive  letters,  not  exceeding  three,  as  the  lack  of  other 
means  of  definition,  such  as  the  Shop-Order  number,  may  require. 

Members  omit  piece  numbers. 

Staples  omit  the  member  letter  and  affix  numbers  indicating 
degrees  of  incompleteness. 

[From  the  American  JlTachinist  of  Sept.  lo,  1881.] 

NOMENCLATURE  OF  MACHINE  DETAILS. 
By  Oberlin  Smith. 

A  Paper  read  before  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers. 

That  the  nomenclature  of  machinery,  and  of  the  tools  and 
apparatus  with  which  it  is  constructed,  is,  in  this  country,  in  a 
state  of  considerable  confusion,  scarcely  needs  demonstrating. 
If  we  look  from  an  international  point  of  view,  and  include  the 
other  English-speaking  countries — Great  Britain  and  her  colo- 
nies, the  confusion  becomes  worse  confounded.  A  reform  is 
destined,  in  due  time,  to  come,  doubtless  to  be  promoted  in 
great  degree  by  such  societies  as  ours.  This  reform  movement 
cannot  be  begun  too  soon,  and  should  aim  at  giving  brief  and 
suggestive  names  to  all  objects  dealt  with,  each  object  to  have 
but  one  name,  and  each  name  to  belong  to  but  one  object. 
A  simple  method  of  beginning  such  a  reform  would  be  a  com- 
mon agreement  among  all  our  engineering  schools  to  use  each 
technical  word  in  but  one  sense,  and  with  no  synonyms. 

A  lesser  field  of  reform,  and  one  which  lies  more  particularly 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  individual  manufacturers,  is  the  com- 
parative designation  of  a  number  of  sizes  or  kinds  of  the  same 
machine.  There  is  now  no  common  understanding  whether  a 
series  of  sizes  shall  be  numbered  or  lettered   from  the  largest 


6-  YMBOLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE.  1 1 1 

down,  or  from  the  smallest  up.  The  latter  is  undoubtedly  the 
most  natural  and  suggestive  method,  but  usually  becomes  con- 
fused by  want  of  careful  forethought  (when  starting  a  series)  in 
providing  "  gaps  "  for  the  insertion  of  future  sizes.  If  a  numeri- 
cal series  has  been  already  started  and  become  commercially 
established,  the  only  systematic  way  to  insert  new  sizes  (either 
at  the  beginning  or  through  the  middle  of  the  series)  is  to  use 
fractional  numbers.  This,  though  awkward  in  sound  and  appear- 
ance, seems  to  be  the  only  means  of  suggesting  the  comparative 
size  of  the  article  by  its  name.  The  use  of  arbitrary  higher  num- 
bers between  the  others  is,  of  course,  worse  than  no  numbers  at 
all.  The  use  of  a  series  of  letters  does  not  supply  this  fractional 
loop-hole  of  escape,  the  euphony  of  A-and-a-half,  K-and-three- 
quarters,  etc.,  being  somewhat  doubtful.  Another  method  in 
much  favor  is  the  use  of  "  fancy"  names,  such  as  "  Diminutive 
Giant,"  "  Eureka,"  "  Fire-fly,"  etc.  These  are  far  preferable  to 
confused  numbers,  as  they  are  not  intended  to  convey  any  ideas 
between  manufacturer  and  customer,  and  admirably  succeed  in 
their  purpose.  All  this  is  a  very  difficult  subject  to  deal  with, 
and  one  in  regard  to  which  we  can  scarcely  hope  for  any  exact 
system.  We  can  but  point  out  to  manufacturers  two  general 
principles  to  be  followed  :  1st,  of  leaving  abundant  ^(7/5 — that  is, 
let  a  regular  series  run  lO,  20,  30,  40,  etc.,  instead  of  1,2,  3,  4, 
etc. ;  and  2d,  of  using  the  smaller  numbers  for  the  smaller 
objects.  The  second  is  similar  in  idea  to  the  well-known  Phila- 
delphia house-numbering  system,  which  has  worked  so  admi- 
rably in  practice,  and  which  has  been  copied  by  numerous  other 
cities. 

The  two  foregoing  paragraphs  are  intended  respectively  as  but 
casual  allusions  to  the  technical  and  commercial  nomenclature  of 
machinery  in  general.  The  subject  is  too  elaborate  to  be  treated 
at  length  in  this  paper,  the  main  purpose  of  which  is  to  set  forth 
the  results  of  the  writer's  experience  in  establishing  a  system  of 
names  and  symbols  for  all  the  component  parts,  commonly 
called  "  details  "  of  machines,  or,  in  fact,  of  any  manufactured 
articles. 

That  some  such   system   is   necessary,  no  engineer  who  has 


112  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

attempted  to  manufacture  machinery  by  the  modern  system  of 
dupHcate  (or  approximately  dupHcate)  parts,  will,  for  a  moment, 
question.  The  necessity  for  a  specific  name  for  each  piece,  which 
name  is  not,  never  has  been,  and  never  will  be,  used  for  any  dif- 
ferent piece  of  the  same  or  any  other  machine,  is  evident,  simply 
for  purposes  of  identification.  This  identification  is  required 
mechanically  at  almost  every  stage  of  production.  The  name,  or 
a  symbol  representing  it,  should  be  marked  upon  the  drawings, 
the  patterns,  and  the  special  tools  pertaining  to  each  piece,  and, 
when  convenient,  upon  the  piece  itself  Commercially,  it  is 
required  on  time  cards  and  in  indexes  and  pattern  lists  and  cost 
books  as  pertaining  to  production.  Pertaining  to  sales  these 
names  or  symbols  must  appear  in  illustrated  price  lists,  and  in 
orders  by  and  charges  to  customers.  This  our  modern  method  of 
repairs,  by  selling  duplicate  parts,  renders  imperatively  necessary. 

The  requisites  for  a  good  system  of  names  and  symbols  are : 
1st,  isolation  of  each  from  all  others  that  did,  do,  or  may  exist  in 
the  same  establishment.  2d,  snggcstiveness  of  what  machine, 
what  part  of  it,  and,  if  possible,  the  use  of  said  part — conforming, 
of  course,  to  established  conventional  names,  as  far  as  practicable. 
3d,  brevity,  combined  with  simplicity.  Of  the  importance  of 
isolation  to  prevent  mistakes  and  confusion  ;  of  suggesti\'eness  to 
aid  the  memory ;  of  brevity  to  save  time  and  trouble,  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  speak. 

Regarding  the  systems  now  in  use  in  our  best  shops,  this  paper 
will  not  attempt  detailed  information.  It  is  understood  that  the 
names  are  more  or  less  scientifically  arranged,  depending,  of 
course,  upon  the  amount  of  study  and  the  quality  of  the  brains 
that  have  been  expended  upon  them.  In  cases  where  symbols  are 
used,  supplementary  to  the  names,  they  usually  consist  of  letters 
or  numbers,  or  (oftener)  a  combination  of  both.  Many  of  them 
(both  names  and  symbols)  fail  in  symmetry  and  suggestivcness, 
because  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  names  of  the  machines 
themselves,  as  regards  the  serial  consccutiveness,  hinted  at  in 
paragraph  2d.  The  quality  of  brevity  often  suffers  severely, 
because  the  name  and  symbol  must,  in  most  cases,  each  have  the 
machine  name  prefixed,  to  secure  their  perfect  isolation.     The 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLAIURE.  113 

latter  quality  is  rarely  dispensed  with,  simply  because  the  manu- 
facturer's pocket  would  be  too  directly  touched  by  the  expensive 
resulting  mistakes.  A  perusal  of  some  machinery  catalogues 
which  give  detailed  lists  of  parts  is  very  harassing  to  a  systematic 
mind.  They  are  apt  to  derive  one  part  name  from  another,  pre- 
fixing the  latter  as  an  adjective  each  time,  until  some  such  pleas- 
ant title  as  "  lower-left-hand-cutting-blade-set-screw-Iock-nut"  is 
evolved.  If  there  are  symbols  provided,  they  consist  of  some 
unknown  combinations  of  letters  part  way  down  the  list,  and  then 
change  to  arbitrary  numbers,  or  perhaps  to  nothing  at  all.  It 
will  often  be  noticed  also  that  no  particular  order  appears  to  be 
followed  in  numerical  arrangement,  similar  parts  being  scattered 
at  random  through  the  list. 

The  scheme  to  be  described  further  on  has  been  evolved  grad- 
ually from  the  experience  gained  in  managing  a  growing  machine 
business.  This  scheme  is  far  from  perfect,  and  is  probably  in- 
ferior to  others  which  have  not  been  made  public ;  but  it  seems 
to  answer  the  purpose  aimed  at,  viz.,  a  comprehensive  and  elastic 
system  which  will  accommodate  itself  to  an  unlimited  growth  and 
any  variation  in  quantity  or  kind  of  goods  manufactured.  This, 
the  methods  we  first  tried  would  not  do,  being  too  limited  in  their 
scope. 

It  should  be  here  explained  that  the  word  "we,"  as  just  used, 
refers  to  the  above-mentioned  machine  works,  with  which  the 
writer  has  long  been  connected ;  and  the  scheme  in  question  will 
be  spoken  of  as  "  our  symbol  system."  To  further  define  terms  : 
'•machine  name"  and  "  machine  symbol"  refer  respectively  to 
the  name  and  symbol  of  the  whole  machine — or  other  article  of 
manufacture ;  for  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  system  is  applicable 
to  almost  any  products,  except  those  of  a  textile  or  chemical 
nature.  "  Piece  name  "  and  ''  piece  symbol,"  in  like  manner,  refer 
to  the  separate  pieces  of  which  the  whole  is  composed.  The 
terms  "  detail,"  "  part,"  and  "  piece,"  have  so  far  been  used 
synonymously.  It  is  doubtful  which  is  really  the  best  to  estab- 
lish as  a  standard,  but  we  have  adopted  "  piece  "  as  best  express- 
ing the  idea  of  one  piece  of  material,  reduced  to  the  1-ast  condi- 
tion of  subdivision.      In  our  practice,  exceptions  are  made  to  this 


114  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

requirement  of  homogeneousness  in  such  cases  as  chains,  ropes, 
belts,  etc., — also  material  glued  or  welded  together — in  short  any- 
thing which  may  (like  a  man)  be  called  one  piece  ^  because  it  is  not 
intended  ever  to  be  taken  apart.  The  character  for  equality  (=) 
will  be  used  to  show  connection  between  a  name  and  its  symbol. 
A  brief  glance  at  the  history  of  our  system  shows  that  at  first  we 
(like  many  others)  hit  upon  the  plausible  idea  of  using  numbers 
for  machine  symbols  and  letters  for  piece  symbols.  The  num- 
bers were  somewhat  "  gapped,"  but  not  to  such  an  extent  as  we 
now  should  practice.  Examples:  If  four  sizes  of  pumps  were 
symboled  i,  2,  3  and  4,  their  barrels  might  =  i-A,  2-A,  etc.. 
and  their  handles  =  i-B,  2-B,  etc.  If  the  next  product  made 
was  a  series  of  lathe  dogs,  they  would  probably  be  symboled  1 1, 
12,  13,  etc.  Their  frames  would  =  ii-A,  12-A,  etc.,  and  their 
screws  ii-B,  etc.  This  all  worked  beautifully  until  the  products 
became  so  complicated  as  to  contain  more  than  26  pieces.  After 
tampering  a  little  with  the  Greek  alphabet,  which  seemed  calcu- 
lated to  scare  our  new  workmen,  and  trying  to  use  a  mixture  of 
small  and  capital  let'.ers,  which  looked  too  near  alike,  we  fell  back 
upon  the  clumsy  device  of  repeating  the  alphabet,  with  letters 
doubled  or  tripled. 

When  we  finally  abandoned  the  above  plan,  several  methods 
were  carefully  studied.  The  next  most  obvious  was  to  use  let- 
ters for  machines  and  numbers  for  pieces.  This  allowed  any 
quantity  of  the  latter,  but  limited  the  machines  to  26,  even  with 
no  gaps  provided.  A  certain  modification  of  this  method  is,  per- 
haps, more  in  use  than  any  other  system.  In  it  letters  are  used 
for  different  sizes  or  styles  of  a  certain  kind  of  machine,  and  used 
over  again  for  some  other  kind,  ad  infinitum.  This  answers  the 
purpose,  because  there  are  not  likely  to  be  more  than  26  varie- 
ties of  one  machine.  It  has,  however,  the  fatal  objection  of 
requiring  the  whole  machine  name  prefixed  to  each  symbol,  in  all 
cases  where  the  symbol  stands  alone,  and  does  not  happen  to  be 
written  with  the  others  of  the  set  in  tabular  form.  As  the  gen- 
eral name  of  a  machine  usually  consists  of  at  least  two  words,  a 
complete  piece  symbol  becomes  too  long  for  convenience  in 
labeling.     Examples:   Force  pump,  K — 26;   Lathe  dog,  H — 2. 


S  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE.  1 1 5 

Another  system  consists  in  using  numbers  for  the  machines 
and  numbers  for  the  pieces.  This  gives  isolation  and  brevity, 
but  no  suggestiveness,  A  serious  objection  to  it  is  the  danger 
of  blurring  the  numbers  together,  or  of  transposition  in  writing 
or  reading  them ;  also  in  the  fact  that  either  number  cannot  be 
used  alone,  as  it  can  in  the  case  of  letters  and  numbers. 

A  similar  system  to  the  above  consists  in  the  use  of  letters  for 
both  symbols.  It  has  the  same  disadvantages,  and  the  additional 
one  of  a  limitation  in  the  quantity  of  letters  at  disposal. 

Our  system,  as  finally  decided  upon,  is  as  follows : — Machine 
names  and  piece  names  are  determined  by  the  designer,  in  gen- 
eral according  with  the  principles  already  pointed  out,  being,  of 
course,  made  as  brief  and  suggestive  as  possible,  with  no  two 
machine  names  alike,  and  no  two  piece  names  alike  in  the  same 
machine.  In  this  nomenclature  no  positive  laws  can  be  followed 
but  those  of  common  sense  and  good  English.  A  machine  symbol 
consists  of  a  group  of  t/wce  arbitrary  letter's — capitals.  A  piece 
symbol  consists  of  an  arbitrary  number  and  follows  the  machine 
symbol,  cormected  by  a  hyphen ;  thus  FPA-2  might  symbolize 
the  force-pump  handle  before  alluded  to — smallest  size.  The 
machine  symbol  may  be  used  alone  when  required,  as  FPA. 

As  thus  described,  these  symbols  fully  possess  the  qualities  of 
isolation  and  brevity.  To  make  them  also  suggestive,  some  atten- 
tion must  be  paid  to  what  letters  to  use.  In  practice,  we  aim  to 
make  the  first  two  letters  the  initials  of  the  general  name  of  the 
machine,  and  the  last  letter  one  of  an  alphabetical  series  which 
will  represent  the  sizes  of  the  machine.  An  example  of  this  is 
shown  in  the  symbol  for  the  smallest-sized  force  pump  FPA.  If 
there  is  any  chance  of  a  future  smaller  or  intermediate  size,  gaps 
should  be  left  in  the  alphabetical  order.  This  "  initial "  method 
cannot  always  be  strictly  followed,  because  of  such  duplicates  as 
FPA  for  force  pump  and  foot  press.  The  remedy  would  be  to 
change  one  initial  for  one  beginning  some  synonymous  adjective, 
that  is,  foot  presses  might  be  symbolized  TPA,  assuming  that  it 
stands  for  treadle  press.  Usually  the  least  important  machine 
should  be  thus  changed.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that,  in  de- 
fining the  theory  of  this  scheme,  the  words  "  arbitrary  letters  " 


ii6 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


were  purposely  used.  The  idea  is  to  make  the  system  thoroughly 
comprehensive.  There  might  be  such  a  number  of  machines 
having  identical  initials  that  the  letters  would  be  almost  arbitrary. 
In  practice,  the  designer  can  usually  succeed  in  making  the 
symbols  sufficiently  suggestive. 

In  considering  how  many  letters  to  use  in  a  symbol,  consider- 
ations of  brevity  advised  two,  suggestivcness  three  or  four.  Two 
letters  did  not  allow  of  enough  permutations,  nor  indicate  well 
enough  the  kind  and  size  of  machine.  Three  seemed  amply 
sufficient  in  the  first  respect,  as  it  provided  over  17,000  symbols. 
If,  for  any  reason,  in  the  future  four  letters  should  seem  desirable, 
the  addition  of  another  would  not  materially  change  the  system. 
If  three  letters  hyphened  to  a  number  of  one,  two  or  three  digits 
should  seem  bulky,  remember  that  this  symbol  can  stand  by  itself 
anywhere  and  express  positively  the  identity  of  the  piece.  Its 
comparative  brevity  is  shown  by  comparing  the  second  and  third 
columns  of  the  following  table  (A).  In  the  different  lines  an  idea 
is  given  of  the  application  of  the  system  to  a  variety  of  products 
not  usually  made  in  any  one  shop. 

Table  A. 


Full  name  of  machine  and  piece. 


b"  X  4''  Engine  Lathe,  spindle 

head 

No.  4  Power  Press,  frame 

"]"  X  14'^  Steam  Engine,  crank 

shaft 

Buckeye  Mowing  Machine,  left 

axle  nut 

No.  3  Glass  Clock,  main  spring, 
One-hole  Mouse    trap,  choker 

wire 


2nd 


Our  symbol 
for  it. 


ELA— 4 
PPD— I 

SEG— 51 

MMD— 81 
GCC — 105 

MTA— 3 


3rd 


Symbolic  name  as  often  used. 


Engine  Lathe,  A — 4 

Power  Press,  D — i 

Steam  Engine,  G — 51 

Mowing  Machine,  D — Si . 
Glass  Mantel  Clock,C — 105 

Wooden  Mouse  Trap,  A — 3 


4th. 

5th. 

a 

c 

'■J 

0  ''' 

u 

4 

13 

4 

12 

5 

14 

5 
6 

16 
20 

4 

17 

6th. 


cj  o 


II 
14 

13 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE. 


117 


Table  B. 


FPL 


No.  3  Foot  Press. 


Weight. 


Pi5«     Same  as 

No. 


Piece  name 


Material. 


I 

2 

3 

4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
21 
26 


Frame 

Gib 

Side  Bar 

Front  Leg  — 

Back  Leg 

Treadle 

Lever  

FPH-8     Lever  Weight 

I  Pitman 

FPH-IO    Clamp  Sleeve 

Lever  Pin 

FPJ-26    Treadle  &  Pitman  Bolt 


Cast  Iron. 


Q.-.        Rough  I   Finished 
"^""^-    weight,     weight. 


Steel. 
Iron. 


220 
10 
45 
30 
40 

17 

S5 

5 

12 

3 
2' 


200 

9 

40 

30 
40 

15 

80 

5 
10 

2 


Aggregate 
finished 
weight. 


200 

9 
40 
60 
40 

15 
80 
20 
10 

4^ 
2 


Table  B  is  a  specimen  of  part  of  a  page  of  our  "  Symbol  Book," 
in  which  are  recorded  any  machines  which  hav^e  arrived  at  such  a 
state  of  perfection  and  salability  as  to  be  marked  "  Standard  "  on 
our  drawings. 

This  table  almost  explains  itself  The  piece  numbers  in  ist 
column  do  not  have  the  letters  prefixed,  because  the  latter  stand 
at  the  top  of  the  column.  '•  Same  as  "  means  that  the  piece  is 
identical  with  a  piece  belonging  to  some  other  machine,  and  can 
be  manufactured  with  it.  If  it  is  common  to  several  machines  in 
a  set,  the  smallest  of  the  set  in  which  it  occurs  is  given.  The 
•'  quantity  "  column  tells  the  number  of  pieces  of  a  kind  required. 
The  last  "weight"  column,  added  upward,  shows  total  weight  of 
machine.  The  piece  numbers  are  "  gapped  "  after  each  kind  of 
material,  and  also  at  the  ends  of  "  groups,"  as  described  further 
on.  This  is  to  allow  for  future  changes  and  additional  pieces; 
also  that  other  nearly  similar  machines  having  more  pieces  may 
in  general  have  the  same  piece  numbers. 

The  order  in  which  the  pieces  are  numerically  arranged  cannot 
follow  positive  rules  in  all  cases.  In  our  list  of  instructions  (too 
long  to  be  here  quoted)  we  direct  a  classification  by  materials. 
In  each  class  we  group  pieces  of  the  same  general  character,  in 
regard  to  the  prevaling  work  to  be  done  upon  them,  and  in  natural 
"  machine  shop  "  order;  i.  e.,  first  planing,  then  drilling  or  boring, 


ii8  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

then  turning.     We  also  aim  to  place  the  heaviest  and  most  im- 
portant pieces  first.     Between  each  group  we  "  gap  "  the  numbers. 

Regarding  position  in  naming  pieces,  we  assume  a  front  to  the 
machine  (where  the  operator  is  most  likely  to  be  placed),  and 
define  direction  tersely  as  "  forward,"  "  back,"  "  right,"  "  left," 
''  down,"  "  up."  The  adjectives  of  position  prefixed  to  piece 
names  are,  of  course,  derived  from  these  words,  as  "  upper," 
"  lower,"  etc.  A  perpendicular  row  of  similar  pieces,  say  5,  would 
be  rated  upper,  second,  third,  fourth  and  lower.  A  number  of 
different-sized  pieces  of  similar  name  may,  in  like  manner,  be 
prefixed  smallest,  second,  third,  etc. 

Before  closing,  a  brief  reference  to  certain  (two)  supplementary 
symbols  may  not  be  out  of  place.  One  is  a  small  letter  after  a 
piece  symbol  (as  FPL-21-a),  signifying  that  the  piece  is  obsolete, 
the  standard  FPL-21  having  been  altered.  After  a  second  alter- 
ation, the  last  obsolete  piece  would  be  suffixed  "  b,"  and  so  on. 
Thus  duplicate  pieces  of  old-style  machines  can  be  identified  and 
supplied  to  customers.  The  other  symbol  referred  to  is  to  indicate 
the  number  of  the  operation  in  the  construction  of  a  piece,  and  is 
written  thus:  FPL-21-ist,  FPL-2i-2d,  etc.  Its  use  is  of  great 
value  on  detail  drawings,  time  cards  and  cost  records. 

Oberlin  Smith. 


Symbolic  Nomenclature  of  "  Objects." 

In  order  to  test  the  correctness  of  the  principles  above  enun- 
ciated, and  to  illustrate  their  meaning,  they  are  applied  in  detail 
to  the  most  complex  cases  with  which  I  am  familiar;  viz.,  the 
manufacture  of  small  arms  and  of  metallic  ammunition.  For  a 
general  application  of  symbols  see  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


6"  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE. 


119 


I.  Application  to  the  Manufacture  of  Small  Arms ,  as  described  in 
Ordnance  Alcniorandum  22. 

DESCRIPTIVE    SYMBOLS. 

I.   Of  class  (kind  of  arm). 

Rifle - R. 

Carbine —  C. 

Revolver _ P.  ( pistol) . 

Shot  gun - —  G.  (gun). 

2.   Of  pattern. 

Springfield —  S-F. 

Spencer — S-N. 

Smoot - - — .  S-T. 

Smith S-M. 

Hotchkiss H-K. 

Lee —  L-E. 

Chaffe-Reece C-R.,  etc. 

Note. — Some  of  these  guns  are  not  in  O  M.  22,  but  are  given  as  illustrative 
examples  of  the  treatment  of  similar  names.  The  descriptive  symbols  are  written  in 
the  inverse  order  above  given ;   thus  S-F-R ;  H-K-C,  etc. 

MEMBER    SYMBOLS. 

Stock  and  parts S.  ^ 

Barrel  and  parts B.    >  Principal  members. 

Lock  and  parts L.  J 


Bands "^ 

Tang  screw vp. 

Side  screws J 


Fastenings  between 
principal  members. 


Rear  sight T.  "" 

Ramrod _ U. 

Bayonet... W.  ^Appendages. 

Tools Y.    I 

Packing  box X.  J 


120 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Symbolic  Nomenclature  in  Detail  of  the  Parts  of  the  Springfield 

System. 


Full  symbol. 
Full  name  of  part.*       Letters.    Num'ls. 
Stock :  S. 

Wood  part  (one  piece) S-F-R-S.       lo 


Tip 

Tip  screw 

Tip   screw  and  tip    (com- 
ponent)     

Same  plus  parts  above  — 

Ramrod  stop  (one  piece) . . 
Same  plus  parts  above  . . . 


20 
120 


130 


Band  spring  (one  piece) ..   S-F-S.  40 

Same  plus  parts  above  .. .   S-F-R-S.     140 


Guard  plate. 
"      bow  . 


....   S-F-S. 


nut " 

swivel S-F-R-S. 

"     screw..         " 


Trigger 

"        screw  ... 
Assembled  guard 


S-F-S. 


Guard  screw 

Same  plus  parts  above 


Side  screw  washer 

Same  plus  parts  above  ... 


51 
S-F-R-S.    160 

61 
«  170 


Butt  plate  "              71 

"         "     screw S-F-S.           72 

Same  plus  parts  above,  as- 
sembled stock S-F-R-S. 

Carbine  butt  plate S-F-C-S.       71 

"  "  "  cover..  "  72 
Carbine   butt    plate   cover 

spring "              73 

Carbine   butt   plate    cover 

friction  spring "              74 


Full  symbol. 

Full  name  of  part.  *  Letters.    Num'ls. 

Carbine   butt    plate   cover 

pin  S-F-C-S.       75 

Carbine   butt    plate   cover 

screw "  76 

Carbine    butt    plate    tang 

screw "  77 

Carbine  butt  plate,  assem- 
bled   "  80 

Swivel  bar "  61 

"       "  base,  front "  62 

Swivel  bar,  assembled   to 

bases "  64 

Swivel  ring "  65 

Swivel    bar   and    ring   on 

stock "  170 

Barrel :  B. 

Rifle  barrel  proper S-F-R-B.        i 

Front  sight  and  bay 't  stud,  "  2 

Same  plus  above  parts...  "  10 

Receiver  proper S-F-B.  11 

Ejector  stud "  12 

"         "    riveted   to  re- 
ceiver   "  20 

Same  plus  above  parts "  120 

Breech  screw  (one  piece)..  "  30 

Same  plus  above  parts "  130 

Breechblock  (one  piece)..  "  31 

Cam  latch "  32 

"        "     spring ««  33 

Breech  lock  cap "  34 

"         "       "  screw "  35 

Thumb  piece "  36 

"         "     riveted  to  32 

and  34 "  .17 

Breech  block  complete. ..  "  40 


When  no  particular  arm  is  mentioned,  the  rifle  is  understood. 


S  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE. 
Symbolic  Nomenclature  in  Detail^  etc. — continued. 


Full  symbol. 

Full  name  of  part.*  Letters.    Num'ls. 

Firing  pin S-F-B.          41 

<<        <<    screw "               42 

Extractor "                51 

Ejector  spindle "                52 

"      spring "               53 

Hinge  pin "                61 

Same  plus  above  parts  (as- 
sembled barrels ). ., S-F-R-B. 

Carbine  barrel  proper S-F-C-B.         I 

"  "        front    sight 

stud "                2 

Same  plus  parts  above "              10 

Carbine  front  sight "               II 

"            "          "     pin...  "              12 

Same  plus  parts  above "            120 

Etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

Lock : 

Lock  plate <<                     l 

Bolster  screw "                    2 

Same  riveted  to  lock  plate,  "                   lo 

Main  spring  (one  piece)..  "                   20 

Tumbler *'                  21 

Main  spring  swivel "                   22 

<<         <<           <(      rivet..  "                   23 

Note. — These  parts  really  belong  to  the 
tumbler,  although  called  in  part  after  the 
main  spring. 
Tumbler  swivel  and  rivet, 

riveted S-F-L 


Bridle 


screw. 


Sear 


Full  name  of  part. 
Sear  spring 


Hammer 

Tumbler  screw 

Same  plus  parts  above  (as- 
sembled lock) S-F-L 


Full  sy 

mbol 

Letters. 

Num'ls. 

S-F-L. 

43 

(< 

44 
51 

" 

52 

Fastenings : 

Upper  band 

Gun  sling  swivel 

Stacking  swivel 

Swivel  pin 

Upper  band  complete 


F. 
S-F-R-F. 


Base  screw " 


I 

2 

3 

4 

10 


Lower  band  (one  piece) ..         "  20 

Tang  screw,     "       "     ...   S-F-F.  30 

Side  screw,       "       "       ..       "  40 

Carbine  band S-F-C-F.         i 

"  "     swivel "  2 

"  "         "       pin..         "  3 

Appendages. 
Rear  sight :  T. 

Base " 

"    spring ** 

Same  plus  part  above " 


I 

2 
10 

II 


"     leaf «« 

Joint  pin  .   " 

Slide '« 

"    spring " 

"         "     rivet " 

Leaf,  assembled " 

Sight,  assembled,  rifle  ...   R-T. 

'«  "  carbine,  C-T. 

Note. — The  sights  are  alike  until  grad- 
uated, and  hence  are  simply  designated  as 
T.  I ;  T.  23,  etc. 


'  When  no  particular  arm  is  mentioned,  the  rifle  is  understood. 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Symbolic  Nomenclature  in  Detail,  etc. — continued. 


Full  name  of  part. 

Ramrod : 
For  rifle  (one  piece) 
For  carbine,  jointed;  joints 

I  and  2 

.Same,  joint  3 

"      complete  .. 


Full  symbol. 
Letters.    Num'ls. 

u. 

R-U. 
C-U. 


.  C-U. 


w. 


Bayonet : 

Blade " 

Neck  and  socket " 

Same  welded  to  blade " 


Clasp 

"     screw 

"      and  screw 

Bayonet   complete   for   all 
arms  . .  •. 


Tools : 
Screw  driver,  large  blade, 
'«        small      " 

"  "        rivet 

'*  "       assembled.. 

Tumbler  and  b.  s.  punch, 
large  blade 

Same,  small  blade 

"      rivet 

"      assembled 

Combination  screw  driver, 
large  blade 

Same,  small  blade 

*'  tumbler  and  b.  s. 
punch 

Same,  rivet 


Full  symbol. 
Full  name  of  part.  *        Letters.    Num'ls. 
Same,  assembled Y. 


Headless  shell  extractor..    " 


30 


40 


I 

2 

Packing  box : 

X. 

Sides  of  rifle  box 

S-F-R-X. 

I 

Top  and  bottom 

<< 

2 

End  pieces 

" 

3 

I 

Top  cleats 

" 

4 

2 

Handles 

X. 

.S 

ID 

Empty  box 

S-F-R-X. 

10 

II 

Corner  pieces 

<. 

II 

12 

End  linings 

12 

20 

Inner  linings 

i< 

13 

Set  of  wooden  linings 

" 

20 

Tin  linings 

<< 

21 

Tin    and    wooden    linings 

I 

2 

3 

complete 

<( 

30 

Muzzle  clamps 

<< 

31 

10 

Butt           "        

<( 

32 
33 

Top            "        

" 

Bayonet     "         

<( 

34 
40 

II 

Set  of  packings  complete, 

«' 

12 

Box  complete 

S-F-R-X. 

13 

20 

Finished   arm,   more  or 
less  complete : 
Rifle  complete,  with  tools, 

21 

bayonet,  etc.,  boxed 

S-F-R. 

22 

Same,  without  box 

<< 

I 

"             "       tools 

" 

2 

23 

"              "       bayonet 

" 

3 

24 

Etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

'  When  no  particular  arm  is  mentioned,  the  rifle  is  understood. 


5  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE.  1 2  3 

II.  Application  to  the  Manufacture  of  the  Staple  Products  of 
Frank  ford  Arsenal  as  described  in  First  Pamphlet  on  the  Shop- 
Order  System,  January,  1881. 

DESCRIPTIVE    SYMBOLS. 

1.  Of  class  (kind  of  product). 

Ball  cartridge.- B. 

Blank  cartridge O. 

Target    pasters - —  Q. 

Cannon   primers _ —  T.    (tubes). 

Fuzes — —  Z. 

2.  Of  pattern — 

OF   CARTRIDGE. 

/.  Referring  to  arm  for  which  designed. 

Rifle R. 

Carbine _ — C. 

Revolver -.    P.   (pistol). 

Shotgun. G.  (gun). 

2.  Referring  to  construction. 

Folded-head  case  — F. 

Solid-head   case.. S. 

OF   CANNON   PRIMERS. 

Electric  primers.. -•    E. 

Friction  primers F. 

OF   FUZES. 
Time  fuze — - --   T. 

Note. — The  descriptive  symbols  are  written  in  the  inverse  order  above  given ;  thus, 
F-R-B.,  E-T.,  T-Z.,  etc. 

MEMBER    SYMBOLS. 

The  individual  cartridge,  primer,  fuze,  etc.,  of 
which  case,  bullet,  powder,  primer,  etc.,  are 
the  components A. 

Paper  package  or  its  equivalent K. 

Wooden  packing  box  or  case X. 


124 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Symbolic    Nomenclature    in    Detail   of  Staple   Products    of  the 
Frankford  Arsenal. 

Note.  — The  rifle  cartridge,  solid  head,  is  taken  as  the  type,  departures  from  which 
are  noted  as  they  occur.     Folded  head  substitutes  F.  for  S.  throughout. 

Full  symbol. 
Letters.    Num'ls. 


Full  name. 
Case  (one  piece)   


Full  symbol. 
Letters.     Num'ls 
S-R-B-A 


ID 


Primer  cap  for  all  arms S-A.  1 1 

"     fulminate A.  12 

"     anvil S-A.  13 

"      foil "  14 

"     assembled "  20 

Cup  anvil F-A.  Ii 

Fulminate A.  12 

Primed  anvil F-A.  20 

For   revolver  amm'n    the 
same,  substituting F-P-A. 

Primed  cases,  (R.  or  C.)..   S-A.  or 

F-A.  120 

Primed  cases,  revolver S-P-A.  or 

F-P-A.  120 

Powder A.  21 

Wads  for  carbine S  C-B-A.  22 

Paper  cups  (R.  or  C.) S-O-A.  23 


Bullet  (R.  or  C.) 
"      revolver  .. 


A. 
P-A. 


Finished  cartridges,  more  or  less  com- 
plete. 
Blank  cartridges,  loose  (R. 

orC.) S-O-A. 

Blank    cartridges,     loose, 

revolver S-P-O-A. 


Ball  cartridges,  loose,  rifle,  S-R-B-A. 
"             "             "       car- 
bine    S-C-B-A. 

Ball  cartridges,  loose,  re- 
volver    S-P-B-A. 


Full  name. 
S-R-B-A.  packed  complete,   S-R-B. 
Same,  packed  in  paper  only,       "  i 

Etc.,  etc. 

Note. — The  primers  F-A.  20  and  S-A. 
20  may  in  some  circumstances  be  used  in 
either  kind  of  case  indifferently.     I  have 
taken  the  usual  practice. 
Paper  package  or  its  equiv- 
alent     K. 

Body "  I 

End "  2 

Wrapper "  3 

Twine "  4 

Assembled  body "  10 


Comb " 

Packing  piece " 

Body  assembled  with  pack- 
ing for  use S-B-K. 

Wooden  box  (R.  or  C):  X. 

Sides 

Ends 

Bottoms 

Lid 

Handles 

Assembled 

Painted S-B-X. 


Electric  primer ; 

Body 

Branch  

Body  and  branch  as'bled, 

Wooden  block 

Copper  wire 

Platinum  wire 

Copper  and  platinum  wire 

soldered 

Poplar  strip 


E-T. 
E-T-A. 


II 

12 


I 

2 

3 

4 

S 

10 


I 

2 
10 

II 
12 
13 

14 


6"  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE. 


125 


Symbolic  Nomenclature  in  Detail,  etc. — continued. 


Full  symbol. 
Full  name.  Letters.    Num'ls. 

Gun  cotton E-T-A.  16 

Assembled  block "  20 

Assembled  primer,  empty,       "  120 


A. 

Loaded  primer,  loose 

E-T-A 

Packed  in  wooden  boxes . . 

E-T. 

•'      "    tin  canisters... 

«« 

"      "   paper  packages. 

<< 

Friction  primers : 

F-T. 

Body 

F.T-A 

Branch  

Body  and   branch   assem- 

bled  

<< 

Wire 

<( 

Friction  composition 

<< 

Assembled  primer,  empty, 


II 

12 
120 


Full  symbol. 
Full  name.  Letters.  Num'ls. 

Powder A.  21 

Loaded  primer,  loose F-T-A. 

Packed  in  wooden  boxes,  F-T. 

"       "   tin  canisters 

"       "   paper  packages, 


Time  fuze ; 
Body 


Composition , 

Priming 

Fuze  complete,   loose T-Z-A 

Packed  in  wooden  boxes,  T-Z. 
«<       "         ««        blocks,     " 

Target  pasters :  Q. 

Paper  discs   Q-A. 

Packed  in  paper  boxes Q. 


" 

I 

" 

2 

T-Z. 

T-Z-A. 

I 

«« 

II 

<< 

12 

Remarks. 

The  descriptive  symbols  may  be  affixed  to  all  member  sym- 
bols, as  occasion  may  require,  and  new  descriptive  symbols  may 
be  devised  to  suit  new  manufactures. 

Conversely,  the  descriptive  symbols  should  be  dropped  when 
the  Shop-Order  number  sufficiently  defines  the  object  for  which 
the  time  or  material  is  expended,  or  when  their  use  in  full  would 
give  an  erroneous  idea  of  specialty. 

Thus,  if  Shop-Order  No.  49  refers  to  making  a  certain  number 
of  folded-head  rifle  ball  cartridges,  49-A.  i  defines  the  particular 
cartridge  case  quite  as  well  as  49-F-R-B-A.  i,  and  much  more 
briefly.  For  a  similar  reason  powder  is  known  throughout  as 
A.  21,  and  fulminate  as  A.  12;  because  these  articles  are  com- 
mon to  all  classes  of  ammunition. 

In  referring  to  the  cup  anvil  made  for  either  the  rifle  or  car- 
bine cartridge,  and  noted  in  connection  with  the  number  of  a 
standing  Shop-Order  (Chap.  XI),  we  would  write  it  simply  213- 
F-A,  II.  If  the  pistol  cup  anvil  were  meant,  we  would  write 
213-F-P-A.  II,  reserving  the  general  title  for  the  more  import- 
ant ammunition. 


126  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

In  fine,  we  must  always  use  the  Shop-Order  number  and  the 
member  symbol  with  its  numerical  suffix  when  this  is  required  ;  to 
these  we  must  prefix  only  as  many  descriptive  symbols  as  are 
needed  to  thoroughly  define  the  object  in  question. 

4.   N.  or  Operation. 

Under  this  heading  on  the  cards  is  to  come  the  symbolic  num- 
ber of  the  operation  requiring  the  expenditure  which  the  card 
reports.  It  was  formerly  restricted  to  the  staple  objects  which 
we  have  just  discussed ;  but  by  the  use  of  more  general  tables, 
to  be  described,  it  may  be  used  for  general  work. 

A  good  system  of  symbolizing  operations  is  very  important, 
for  upon  the  exact  knowledge  of  their  comparative  cost  will  be 
founded  the  most  important  economical  reforms. 

The  system  should  be  simple,  comprehensive  and  flexible. 
Simplicity  can  be  best  attained  by  a  proper  classification, 
grouping  together  operations  of  the  same  class.  Their  symbols 
will  thus  be  most  easily  remembered,  since,  as  a  rule,  the  same 
class  of  workmen  will  use  the  same  class  of  symbols.  Also,  mis- 
takes in  notation  will  be  of  less  consequence,  since  the  errors  will 
tend   to   confine   themselves   to   the   limits   of   the    group.      See 

page  43- 

Comprehensiveness  is  given  by  spacing  the  groups  so  far  apart 
that  they  may  be  extended  without  danger  of  overlapping.  See 
Mr.  O.  Smith's  remarks  on  "gaps,"  page  iii. 

Flexibility  is  attained  by  permitting  a  certain  internal  develop- 
ment of  individual  symbols  within  a  group. 


If  we  assume  that  an  operation  is  intended  to  make  some 
change  in  the  condition  of  the  object  operated  on,  we  are  forced 
to  base  our  classification  upon  the  means  employed  to  effect  that 
change,  because  the  other  variables — the  operators  and  the  ob- 
jects operated  on — have  already  been  classified  separately. 

In  the  accompanying  example  I  have  endeavored  to  apply 
these  principles  to  the  wants  of  an  Arsenal.  The  effort 
amounts  only  to  a  suggestion,  for  every  shop  will  need  data  not 


S  YMB  OLIC  NOMENCLA  TURE.  1 2  7 

given  here,  and  will  omit  some  of  those  enumerated.  See 
graphical  table  of  operations,  page  133. 

We  begin  by  the  simplest  way  of  changing  an  object,  viz.,  by 
exposing  it  to  some  influence,  such  as  heat,  which  will  change  its 
constitution  ;  or  to  some  process  which  will  change  its  condition 
externally,  as  by  pickling.  From  this  class  of  operations  we 
pass  by  slight  degrees  to  those  where  more  active  means  are 
employed,  as  in  painting,  oiling,  etc.  To  such  operations  gener- 
ally we  give  a  series  of  symbolic  numbers,  beginning  with  loi.* 

We  now  come  to  more  active  means  of  attack,  such  as  those 
which  make  a  change  in  the  shape  of  the  object.  This  lot  in- 
cludes generally  workers  in  sheet  metal,  like  tinners,  etc.  In  this 
I  assume  a  distinction  between  a  change  in  shape  and  a  change  in 
form:  we  have  iron,  say,  in  the  form  of  sheets  which  may  be 
fashioned  into  a  variety  o{  sliapcs.  This  group  is  numbered  from 
201  upwards. 

Changes  of  form  are  more  serious  and  are  effected  in  two 
general  ways : 

1st.  By  plastic  processes,  such  as  are  enumerated  in  the 
following  list  from  301  up. 

2d.  By  cutting  of  the  various  kinds  described  in  groups  400, 
500,  600,  700.  t 

The  next  step  in  complexity  relates  to  the  means  employed  to 
unite  component  parts  together.    These  are  numbered  from  801  up. 

Then  comes  the  900  group,  relating  to  unclassified  operations. 
It  will  be  seen  that  many  of  these  require  the  highest  grade  of 
labor.  This  resemblance  between  the  grades  of  labor  in  the  same 
group  is  accidental,  and  though  by  no  means  conclusive,  is  quite 
reassuring  as  to  the  general  correctness  of  the  analysis. 

*  As  a  parallel  change  to  that  of  condition  might  have  been  named  that  of  situation, 
comprising  the  means  used  to  move  objects  from  place  to  place  by  hand,  by  team,  by 
power,  etc.  But  as  this  group  of  operations  would  only  require  four  or  five  out  of  the 
99  numbers  allotted  to  it,  and  for  other  evident  reasons,  it  is  placed  in  the  same  class 
with  others  relating  to  changes  of  condition. 

t  If  there  were  not  so  many  cutting  processes  to  be  provided  for,  it  would  be  more 
consistent  to  unite  all  cutting  operations  in  one  group,  400.  But  as  the  tendency  of 
machine  work  seems  to  lie  in  this  direction,  I  have  left  all  the  room  possible  for 
extension.     The  classification  of  cutting  tools  is  from  Rankine. 


128  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

When  there  is  a  series  of  operations  of  the  same  kind  performed 
on  one  object,  hke  the  five  draws  in  cartridge-making  or  the  eleven 
minings  of  the  breech  block,  the  exact  stage  of  work  may  be 
indicated  by  a  suffix  as  follows:  Third  draw,  350,  3  ;  or  350,  c; 
or  350,  third  ;  and  the  eleventh  milling  as  650,  1 1  ;  or  650,  k ;  or 
650,  eleventh,  as  may  be  directed.  This  course  admits  of  variations 
in  each  set  of  operations  within  a  group  without  interfering  with 
the  sequence  of  the  other  sets. 

Note.  —  Operations  upon  tools,  etc.,  required  to  produce  staple  objects  of  manu- 
facture, are  to  be  indicated  according  to  the  operation  for  which  the  tool  is  made,  and 
not  according  to  the  operation  which  happens  to  be  necessary  to  make  the  tool  suitable 
for  its  work.  For  example,  tempering  a  die  for  swaging  bullets  would  be  referred  to 
swaging  bullets  instead  of  tempering,  because  it  is  more  important  to  know  all  the 
items  of  cost  for  swaging  bullets  than  it  is  to  know  the  cost  of  tempering  dies.  The 
tempering  may,  however,  be  also  indicated  in  the  separate  space  left  for  detailed  state- 
ment. But  operations  for  other  than  staple  objects  may  be  indicated  by  the  sym- 
bol for  the  mechanical  operation  actually  performed ;  thus,  tempering  cold  chisels 
would  be,  say,  213,  T.,  iii.  This  course  will  prevent  the  use  of  vaguely  synonymous 
terms  describing  occupation,  and  will  afford  exact  ground  for  analysis  Avithout  regard 
to  the  particular  shop  or  department  in  which  the  work  happens  to  be  done. 

Analysis  of  Operations. 

Class  i. 
Symbols  of  Ope^'ations  causing   Changes  in   Condition. 


Heating loi 

Drying 102 

Annealing 103 

Tempering iii 

Case-hardening 112 

Pickling 121 

Cleaning 122 

Washing 123 

Blacking  in  oil 131 

Browning 132 

Plating 133 


Polishing 134 

Burnishing 135 

Oiling 141 

Puttying  or  filling 142 

Painting 143 

Varnishing 144 

Whitewashing 145 

Stamping    151 

Printing 152 

Stencilling 153 

Etching 154 


Changes  of  Situation. 

Moving  by  hand 191  1  Moving  by  power 193 

"        "     team 192  | 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE. 

Class  2. 
Symbols  for  Operations  causiug  Changes  in  Shape. 


129 


Straightening 2oi 

Bending 202 

Forming 203 

Folding 204 

Indenting 205 


Winding 211 


Twisting 212 

Blocking  into  shape 221 

Mandreling 222 

Spinning 223 


Class  3. 


Symbols  for  Operations  causing-  Clianges  in  Form  by  Plastic  Meails'.'  ^ 


Moulding 301 

Casting 302 

Rolling 311 


Forging 312 

Swaging  or  pressing 313 

Drawing  (likewire) 321 


Class  4. 

Symbols  for  Operations  causing  Changes  in  Form  by  Cutting. — 

I.  Shearing. 

Shearing  proper 401     Combined     punching    and     cupping 

j       (double  action  press) 45 1 

Punching,  inside,  including  trimming,  411  . 
"         outside,        "  "   '        412  I 

Class  5. 
II.  Paring  Tools  producing  Surfaces  of  Revolution. 

Turning    501 

Clamp  milling 502 

Screw        "       503 

Thread-cutting,  male 504 


Counterboring 542 

Countersinking 543 


Reaming 361 

Boring 52 1    Thread-cutting,  female 571 


Drilling 


541     Burring 581 


Class  6. 
III.  Paring  Tools  producitig  Ruled  Surfaces. 

Planing 601     Milling,  straight  or  curved  lines 651 

Slotting 602 

Broaching 603  ]  Profiling 661 


Sawing. 


621 


I30 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM 


Class  7, 

Symbols  for  Operations  caicsing   Chajigcs  i7i  Form  by  Scraping 

Tools. 

Scraping 701    Tumbling 713 

Filing  by  hand 71 1  j  Grinding 721 

"      rotary 712  j  Lapping 722 

Class  8. 
Symbols  for  Operations  causing  Changes  in  Objects  by  nniting  them. 

Welding 801     Basting 


Melting  together 802 

Brazing 811 

Soldering 812 

Gluing 813 

Nailing 831 

Screwing 832 

Riveting 833 


Sewing. 


Mixing 85 1 

Assembling  (includes  loading) 852 

Packing 853 

Assorting   and   other   operations   ex- 
pressing dis-\xmon 891 

See  remark,  page  127. 


Class  9. 
Symbols  for  Miscellaiieons  Operations. 

Superintending 901  1  Gauging 922 

Designing 902    Inspecting 923 

Recording   (clerks) 903 

Fitting  or  finishing 911 

Weighing 921 


Miscellaneous  work 991 

"  handwork 992 

"  machine  work 993 


Examples  in  Practice. 

I  have  retained  the  following  list,  which  is  substantially  that 
issued  at  Frankford  Arsenal  for  the  use  of  the  shops,  so  as  to 
show  to  those  familiar  with  both  methods  how  much  more  clearly 
the  new  plan  works. 

Shop-Orders  49  and  107  are  supposed  to  refer  to  the  manu- 
facture of  certain  quantities  of  the  old  service  folded-head,  and 
of  the  new  solid-head,  cartridges,  respectively.  S-0.  8  requires 
the  making  of  a  special  machine  for  the  use  of  the  shops,  which 


SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE. 


131 


after  it  is  done  will  be  charged  at  its  cost  to  S-0.  213.  Shop- 
Orders  91,  247  and  368  refer  to  special  manufactures  made  for 
issue,  sale,  etc.     The  others  are  standing  orders.     Sec  Chap.  XI. 


Examples  in  Practice  of  Method  of  Recording  Charges 
AND  Credits  for  Labor  and  Material. 


Name  of  Material  and  Nature  of  Service 
in  full. 

No. 

1.  10,000  lbs.  sheet  copper,  0.90  thick. 

2.  Tempering  cherry  for  bullet  dies. 

3.  Making  three  pair  bullet  dies. 

4.  Adjusting  bullet  machine. 

5.  Making  bullets. 

6.  10  lbs.  steel  for  machine  shop  tools. 

7.  Proof  house  work. 

8.  Repairs  to  proof  house  instruments. 

9.  Cleaning  large  planer. 

10.  10  lbs.  waste  for  same. 

11.  Drawing  for  new  burring  machine. 

12.  Patterns       "  "  " 

13.  Milling  C.-bore,  new  burring  machine. 

14.  Forgings  "  "  " 

15.  Slotting  bed        "  "  " 

16.  Making  a  drawing  for  Ordnance  Office. 

17.  ^^aking  a  pattern  for  sale  to  inventor. 

18.  Making  folded-head  revolver  heading 

tools  for  stock. 

19.  7  drawing  dies  for  service  ball  cartridge. 

20.  Repairs  to  messenger  wagon. 

21.  Driving  messenger  wagon. 

22.  Putting  on  new  gas  burners  in  shop. 

23.  Inspecting  gas  meter. 

24.  Running  engine. 

25.  Oiling  shafting  in  loading-room. 

26.  "  "  machine  shop. 

27.  Repairing  belts  on  draw  presses. 

28.  Bushing  counter-shaft  of  boring  mill. 

29.  Master  workman's  time. 

30.  Foreman  of  case  shop,  half  time. 
31. 

32.  Running    draw    presses    on    cannon 

primers. 

33.  Running  draw  presses  on  cartridges. 


Purpose  of  the  Expenditure  of  Labor  and 
Material,  expressed  by  Symbols. 


s-o. 

0. 

0. 

N. 

107 

W. 

A. 

107 

P. 

A. 

31 

313 

107 

T. 

A. 

31 

313 

107 

A. 

A. 

31 

313 

107 

W. 

A. 

31 

313 

214 

P. 

387 

W. 

992 

387 

P. 

991 

214 

W. 

122 

214 

W. 

122 

8 

P. 

902 

8 

P. 

992 

8 

P. 

651 

8 

W. 

312 

8 

w. 

602 

91 

w. 

902 

247 

w. 

992 

213 

T. 

F-P-A.  I 

204 

49 

T. 

A. 

I 

321 

215 

P. 

215 

W. 

192 

219 

P. 

219 

W. 

216 

A. 

901 

213 

A. 

141 

214 

A. 

141 

213 

W. 

992 

214 

P. 

501  or 
521 

213 

A. 

901 

49 

A. 

901 

107 

A. 

901 

368 

W. 

A. 

I 

321 

49 

W. 

A. 

I 

321 

132  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Examples  in  Practice,  etc. — continued. 

Name  of  Material  and  Nature  of  Service     Purpose  of  the  Expenditure  of  Labor  and 

in  full.  Material,  expressed  by  Symbols. 

No. 

34.  100  lbs.  musket  powder. 

35.  Supplying  powder  to  loading  machine. 

36.  Loading  cartridges. 

37.  Paint'g  boxes  for  solid-head  cartridges. 

38.  "  "      service  cartridges. 

39.  "  "      target  pasters. 

40.  Making  paper  boxes  for  target  pasters. 

41.  Cutting  pasters  into  boxes. 

42.  Shoeing  a  horse. 

43.  Dressing  cold  chisels. 

44.  Determining  trajectories,  Sharp's  rifle. 

45.  Testing  daily  work  by  firing,  foreman. 

46.  Assisting  in  same,  workman. 


s-o. 

0. 

0. 

N. 

49 

W. 

A.  21 

852 

49 

W. 

A.  21 

852 

49 

w. 

A.  21 

852 

107 

w. 

X.  10 

143 

49 

w. 

X.  10 

143 

713 

w. 

X.  10 

143 

713 

w. 

K.  10 

211 

713 

w. 

A.  I 

412 

215 

w. 

992 

214 

w. 

312 

387 

w. 

902 

107 

A. 

923 

107 

w. 

952 

SYMBOLIC  NOMENCLATURE. 


133 


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CHAPTER  X. 

PROPOSED    SYSTEM. 

A.  EXTERNAL  RELATIONS. 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  main  difficulty 
in  the  present  system  arises  from  the  overlapping  of  the  really 
distinct  accountabilities  of  the  Commanding  Officer  and  the 
Ordnance  Storekeeper;  and  that  the  Current  Service  Return  has 
dwindled  in  size  and  importance  because  of  the  facility  with  which 
the  officer  making  it  could  rid  himself  of  whatever  responsibility 
it  imposed. 

The  responsibility  of  the  Commanding  Officer  for  supplies  in 
current  service  is  in  its  essence  precisely  like  that  of  the  Ordnance 
Storekeeper  for  supplies  in  store,  and  should  be  assumed  and 
discharged  by  precisely  similar  means.  The  only  difference  be- 
tween them  is,  that  the  stores  in  current  service  are  subject  to 
alteration  in  name  and  condition  from  use,  while  those  in  store  are 
only  subject  to  change  in  condition  from  the  effects  of  time. 

The  escape  from  the  dilemma  between  the  efficient  working  of 
the  arsenal  as  a  whole,  and  the  personal  responsibility  of  the 
Ordnance  Storekeeper,  is  to  be  found  in  expanding  the  scope  of 
the  Current  Service  Return  so  as  to  make  it  include  not  only  all 
transactions  which  can  be  performed  by  the  Storekeeper,  but  also 
those  over  which,  the  Commanding  Officer  being  himself  a  party 
to  them,  he,  the  Commanding  Officer,  has  properly  an  exclusive 
jurisdiction. 

These  last  are  the  expenditures  of  material. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  repeat  that  the  function  of  a  Store- 
keeper is  to  keep  stores.  Hence  the  anomaly  of  his  discharging 
himself  of  the  responsibility  for  stores  placed  in  his  keeping  by 
reporting  them  "  expended,"  as  he  now  does.  Neither  he  nor 
any  of  his  agents  have  the  power  to  expend  stores,  or  in  any  way 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  i35 

to  alter  their  state,  name  or  condition.  This  expenditure  is  the 
exclusive  prerogative  of  the  Commanding  Officer. 

Hence  all  that  the  Storekeeper  can  do  is  to  obey  the  order  of 
the  Commanding  Officer,  expressed  or  implied,  and  turn  over  to 
him  or  his  agents  for  use  in  the  current  service  of  the  arsenal  such 
stores  as  may  be  required.  These  the  Commanding  Officer  may 
keep  unchanged,  or  may  alter  by  fabrication  ("  expend  "),  at  his 
pleasure.  It  is  his  right  and  his  duty,  provided  that  he  tells 
what  has  become  of  the  material  expended  by  showing  into  what 
fabrication  has  entered. 

Now,  since  the  whole  is  greater  than  any  of  its  parts,  the  Com- 
manding Officer  may,  besides  expending  material  (altering  its 
name),  do  whatever  else  is  permitted  to  the  Ordnance  Store- 
keeper. Hence  he  may  receive  all  materials  purchased  for  cur- 
rent service  directly  on  his  own  return,  without  requiring  the 
Storekeeper  to  go  through  the  motions  of  receiving  and  issuing 
property  which  neither  he  nor  any  of  his  agents  may  have  ever 
seen. 

So,  if  materials  on  his  return  are  required  at  other  posts,  he 
need  not  go  through  the  performance  of  first  invoicing  them  to 
the  Storekeeper,  taking  his  receipts,  ordering  the  Storekeeper  to 
issue  them,  and  having  him  make  new  invoices  and  take  new 
receipts  from  the  real  consignee.  He  will  simply  do  it  all  him- 
self, once. 

Should  he  fabricate  a  machine  which  he  wishes  to  keep  in  the 
shop,  he  is  not  obliged  to  turn  it  over  to  the  Storekeeper,  and 
then,  like  the  King  of  France,  march  down  the  hill  again  with 
the  machine.  He  simply  charges  himself  with  the  machine  as 
having  been  received  by  fabrication. 

His  expenditures  for  fabrication  are  managed  in  the  same  way; 
and  so  with  every  transaction  with  material. 

The  volume  of  the  Current  Service  Return  will  be  somewhat 
augmented  by  this  change,  but  that  of  the  Store  Return  will  be 
almost  as  much  diminished,  so  that  the  amount  of  writing  on  the 
two  returns  will  not  be  greatly  increased  from  this  cause.  But 
the  result  will  be,  that  each  tub  will  stand  on  its  own  bottom, 
and  that  each  return  will  explain  itself  so  fully  that,  although  it 


136  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

is  possible  that  more  writing  will  be  required  (of  the  clerks  only), 
this  will  be  so  distributed  from  day  to  day.  and  will  be  based  on 
such  plain  and  consistent  data,  that  the  total  amount  of  labor 
performed  will  be  much  less  than  it  is  now,  and  its  results  be 
much  more  satisfactory. 

Combining  these  advantages  with  those  following  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  Executive  Officer,  it  seems  reasonable  to  deduce  the 
following  propositions : 

1.  That  the  Executive  Officer  and  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper 
shall  be  co-ordinate  subordinates  to  the  Commanding  Officer, 
each  acting  independently  in  his  own  sphere  in  behalf  of  the 
Commanding  Officer. 

Note. — In  the  Executive  Department  there  may  be  several  officers,  assistants  to 
the  Commanding  Officer,  each  of  whom  in  his  own  sphere  represents  the  Executive 
Officer. 

2.  That  the  responsibility  of  each  officer  shall  be  confined  to 
the  property  which,  under  the  Commanding  Officer,  he  himself 
controls  or  which  actually  passes  through  his  hands. 

3.  That  the  Storekeeper  shall  be  responsible  for  only  the  public 
property  in  store ;  and  that  the  Executive  Officer  shall  be  re- 
sponsible for  only  the  public  property  of  all  kinds  in  current 
service. 

4.  That  the  Executive  Officer  shall  account  for  the  property  in 
his  charge  on  the  Current  Service  Return ;  and  the  Storekeeper 
for  that  in  his  charge  on  the  Store  Return. 

5.  That  the  foremen  shall  be  considered  the  agents  of  the 
Executive  Ofiicer,  and  the  assistant  storekeepers  the  agents  of  the 
Ordnance  Storekeeper ;  and  that  the  returns  of  these  officers  shall 
be  compiled  from  the  records  of  their  agents'  lawful  actions. 

6.  That  unless  specially  required,  no  account  shall  be  had  of 
property  transactions  between  agents  of  the  same  principal ;  but 
that  transfers  between  agents  of  different  principals  shall  be  always 
recorded. 

7.  That  the  Executive  Officer  shall,  under  the  Commanding 
Officer,  have  sole  power  to  expend  materials,  and  to  make  and 
originally  account  for  the  fabrications  resulting  from  such  ex- 
penditures. 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  137 

8.  That  to  avoid  circuitous  methods,  both  officers  be  em- 
powered to  directly  receive  and  issue  material,  under  the  general 
rules  now  governing  the  dealings  of  the  Storekeeper  with  the 
outside  world. 

9.  That  the  Stock  Clerk  shall  complete  both  returns  of  the 
Executive  Officer  and  the  Storekeeper,  and  that  the  data  from 
which  the  returns  are  compiled  be  preserved  for  future  reference. 

10.  As  indicated  by  the  preceding  propositions  and  the  ac- 
companying tables,  the  two  returns  would  be  made  on  strictly 
parallel  lines,  each  one  being  supported  by  its  own  abstracts  and 
vouchers,  essentially  as  at  present. 

The  circumstances  suggest  the  following  departures  from  the 
details  of  the  present  system : 

I.  Abstracts  B  and  5  would  be  dispensed  with  as  part  of  the 
Store  Return.  The  functions  of  a  Storekeeper  are  only  to  re- 
ceive, care  for  and  issue  stores.  He  has  nothing  whatever  to  do? 
with  fabricating  them,  nor  is  he  empowered  to  expend  them. 

11.  Abstract  C  should  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  cash  papers,, 
but  would  be  based  on  the  fly  bills  invoicing  the  property  actu- 
ally received  by  the  Storekeeper  or  his  assistants.  These  bills, 
would  be  numbered  as  received  in  a  continuous  yearly  series, 
and,  without  obliterating  the  original  entries  the  nomenclature 
of  these  bills  would  be  plainly  altered  on  the  face  of  them  in  red 
ink,  so  as  to  correspond  with  the  headings  of  the  returns.  The 
quantities  would  also  be  similarly  altered  to  correspond  with  the 
numbers  and  units  actually  received. 

These  bills  would  be  forwarded  to  Washington  for  comparison 
with  the  Paymaster's  vouchers,  so  as  to  check  the  actual  objects, 
of  his  expenditures,  as  explained  Chap.  XIV. 

III.  Present  Abstract  5  would  be  reserved  for  actual  expendi- 
tures in  fabrication  by  the  foremen. 

IV.  Receipts  and  issues  from  cither  return  to  the  other  would 
be  borne  on  Abstracts  E  and  6  respectively. 

V.  Receipts  and  issues  by  transfer  between  classes  or  condi- 
tions would  be  born  on  Abstracts  D  and  7  respectively. 

VI.  Abstract  F  would  be  reserved  for  articles  taken  up  as  found 
on  the  post  in  excess  of  the  quantity  called  for  by  either  return. 


138  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

As  to  permitting  the  Executive  Officer  to  make  issues  to  the 
Army  and  Mihtia,  and  to  make  proper  sales  to  private  parties, 
directly,  the  Commanding  Officer  would  decide.  I  am  confident 
that  experience  would  show  the  advantage  of  developing  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  system  to  the  utmost. 

Arsenal  Return. 

As  to  the  disposition  to  be  made  of  these  returns  when  com- 
pleted, much  may  be  said.  The  natural  course  would  be  to  for- 
ward them  separately  to  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  for  audit,  as  is 
now  done.  But  the  question  arises  whether,  having  made  so 
many  changes,  one  more  radical  still  may  not  be  thought  advis- 
able. 

Considering  that  the  essence  of  return  building  lies  in  its 
pyramidal  structure,  would  it  not  be  well  to  have  the  Commanding 
Officer  audit  both  returns  and  transmit  their  aggregate  results, 
with  the  value  of  the  articles  named,  in  the  form  of  an  Arsenal 
Return  made  yearly  or  oftener? 

Considering  his  nearness  to  the  scene  of  operations,  his  in- 
dependence of  both  the  accounting  officers,  and  the  incentive 
which  this  personal  responsibility  to  an  immediate  superior  would 
give  his  subordinates,  the  suggestion  appears  to  ha\^e  claims  to 
attention.  The  saving  in  clerical  labor  throughout  the  Depart- 
ment would  be  very  great. 

If  this  view  were  adopted,  the  Commanding  Officer,  in  com- 
piling the  Arsenal  Return,  would  have  a  chance  to  examine  so 
thoroughly  the  records  on  which  the  other  Returns  were  based 
that  their  exactness  would  be  assured;  there  would  be  no 
necessity  for  transcribing  these  records ;  and  in  the  form  to  be 
hereafter  described  they  would  be  so  explicit  that  no  rearrange- 
ment could  make  them  plainer. 

The  Arsenal  Return  would  take  the  place  of  the  present  two 
Annual  Returns,  and  with  the  values  added  would  also  replace 
the  Inventory.  Being  merely  a  transcript  of  the  balances  shown 
by  the  Store  and  Current  Service  Ledgers,  Chap.  XIV,  it  could  be 
easily  compiled  in  a  very  few  days  by  two  clerks,  one  to  read  off 
the  balances  and  the  other  to  enter  them  in  the  return. 


EXTERNAL  RELATIONS.  139 

Quarterly  abstracts  A,  C,  i,  2,  3,  with  their  vouchers  would  be 
sent  to  the  Ordnance  Office  as  now,  for  comparison  with  returns 
from  other  officers  reciprocally  accountable  for  the  stores  they 
enumerate;  but  the  other  abstracts,  which  are  now  based  only 
upon  the  unsupported  statements  of  the  Commanding  Officer,  it 
would  seem  not  inexpedient  to  entrust  to  his  own  auditing. 

The  saving  in  labor  would  probably  easily  permit  the  rendering 
of  the  return  at  least  quarterly  with  the  force  now  employed ; 
and  as  it  would  be  possible  for  the  return  and  its  substantive  ledgers 
to  exhibit  the  actual  amount  of  each  kind  of  material  on  hand  at 
any  time,  the  ledgers  and  the  return  could  easily  be  checked  by 
a  random  inventory. 

This  is  only  an  indication  of  what  may  be  done  with  a  system, 
the  elements  of  which  are  true  and  consistent;  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  it  is  necessary  to  develop  it  to  the  fullest  extent  in 
order  to  secure  some  of  the  benefits  which  follow  the  application 
of  the  principles  on  which  it  is  based. 

The  following  schedule,  relating  to  transactions  with  material 
by  foremen  and  Storekeepers,  illustrates  the  nomenclature  of 
abstracts  proposed.     For  its  fuller  interpretation  see  Chap.  XIII. 


140 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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CHAPTER   XL 

PROPOSED    SYSTEM. 
B.  INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 

I.  Method  of  giving  Orders  and  recording  them. 

In  the  office  is  kept  the  Shop-Order  Book  (see  page  150), 
in  which  all  orders  for  work  are  entered  and  given  successive 
numbers  by  which  they  are  to  be  known.  As  these  numbers  are 
only  symbols,  they  may  run  on  indefinitely  from  one  year  to 
another,  so  that  the  same  job  may  always  be  known  by  the  same 
number.  The  signature  of  the  Commanding  Officer  completes 
the  act,  which  then  receives  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Officer  in 
Charge  of  the  shops  and  of  his  lieutenant,  the  Master  Workman. 
The  appropriation  from  which  the  work  is  to  be  paid  should 
always  be  designated. 

Standing  Orders. 

All  jobs  may  be  so  entered ;  but  as  there  are  many  small  ones 
regarding  only  the  maintenance  of  the  arsenal,  like  the  glazing 
of  a  window,  repairs  of  machines,  and  routine  work  which  cannot 
be  deferred  until  special  authority  for  every  case  is  given,  the 
following  course  is  pursued  : 

A  "  standing  order  "  is  given  for  eacn  of  as  many  sources  of 
general  expense  as  it  is  desirable  to  know  the  cost  of. 

These  may  be  analyzed  more  or  less  closely  at  pleasure ;  a  dis- 
tinction should,  however,  always  be  made  between  the  mainte7 
nance  of  the  military  part  of  the  post  and  of  the  civil  establish- 
ment. 

The  cost  of  keeping  up  the  public  grounds  ;  of  heating,  lighting 
and  supplying  with  water  both  the  shops  and  arsenal ;  of  trans- 
portation and  of  motive  power,  are  also  useful  secondary  headings. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


143 


It  is  well  to  start  with  a  thorough  analysis,  remembering  that 
while  charges  can  always  be  combined,  it  is  always  difficult  and 
sometimes  impossible  to  resolve  them  into  their  component  parts. 
This  remark  is  general. 

The  following  examples  of  standing  orders  are  taken  from  the 
practice  at  Frankford  Arsenal : 


No.  of  Shop-Older. 

Maintenance  and  general  repairs  of — 

21^ 

Cartridge  factory. 
Factory  in  general,  not  above. 
Arsenal  and  Military  Post. 
Motive  power. 
Heating  factory. 
"          arsenal. 

214 

2K 

216 - 

217 .- 

218 

2IQ 

Lighting  factory. 
"          arsenal. 
Arsenal  buildings. 

220 - 

22  I.-        . 

222--        --     . - 

223 

Factory        " 

Arsenal  grounds. 

Proving  ground  (ballistic  division). 

387 --- 

The  irregular  sequence  of  these  numbers  shows  their  true 
symbolic  nature.  It  was  not  until  212  special  orders  had  been 
entered  that  the  use  of  the  omnibus  orders  occurred  to  me,  so 
the  first  came  as  213,  and  so  on.  After  a  while  it  became  advis- 
able to  keep  separate  accounts  with  the  ballistic  division,  so  its 
number  was  taken  as  387. 

In  future  I  should  be  inclined  to  reserve  numbers  up  to  100 
for  the  standing  orders — grouping  them,  page  127,  according  to 
the  appropriations  from  which  payable.  See  Chap.  XV.  Private 
manufacturers,  not  dealing  with  appropriations,  would  probably 
group  their  standing  orders  according  to  some  desired  classifica- 
tion of  their  general  expense  accounts. 


144 


FRO  POSED  SYSTEM. 


Starting  afresh  at  Benicia  Arsenal,  the  standing  orders  were 
first  provided  for  as  follows : 


No.  of  Shop-Order. 


Application. 


I ._ 

Maintenance  of  Arsenal  and  Post 

2 

"              "  workshops. 
Repairs  of  public  buildings. 
Work  on  new  shops,  then  building. 
Maintenance  of  public  grounds. 

"              "    heating  and  lighting  system. 

"              "    watersystem  (locally  important). 
Overhauling  ordnance   and  ordnance   stores  in 

store  and  for  issue. 
Overhaulincr  ordnance  and    ordnance  stores  in 

3 

A.              .      

5 

6 

7 

8 

Q 

lO -- 

the  hands  of  troops. 
Packing  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  for  issue. 

II 

Maintenance    of    transportation :    horses,  carts, 

wagons,  harness,  wharves,  boats,  etc. 
Maintenance  of  motive  power. 

"             "    shop  fixtures. 

"             "    tools  and  machinery. 

"              "    proving  ground. 
Private  work,  to  be  paid  for. 

12 

I^ 

14 

15 

i6 

At  both  arsenals  the  numbers  soon  became  as  familiar  as  the 
workmen's  names. 

Foremen  are  allowed,  on  their  own  authority,  to  issue  small 
supplementary  orders  based  on  these  standing  orders,  as  it  is  con- 
sidered that  all  necessary  precautions  have  been  observed  when 
the  Commanding  Officer  has  an  assured,  though  ex  post  facto, 
knowledge  of  their  acts. 

Order  Tickets. 
Going  back  to  the  Shop-Order  Book,  a  definite  number  of 
copies  of  the  order  are  made  in  brief  upon  order  tickets. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 
Order  Ticket  in  Duplicate. 


145 


Receipt. 

M-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

SO. 

C. 

;  0. 

;  N. 

< 

I 

88    . 

Authority, 

Completed, 

I 

88     . 

Completion. 

jSI-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

Receipt. 

M-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

SO.                ; 

C. 

;  0. 

;  N. 

'1 

] 

88    . 

Authority, 

Completed, 

I 

88    . 

Completion. 

M-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

These  tickets  are  printed  in  duplicate,  separated  by  a  perfo- 
rated line,  and  are  of  different  colors.     At  Frankford  Arsenal  the 
following  distinctions  are  made:    Yellow  is  reserved  for  cartridge 
10 


146  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

work,  the  most  important;  red  for  other  work  for  issue  to  the 
Army;  blue  is  for  the  local  work  of  the  post;  white  is  for  sub- 
orders given  by  a  subordinate  in  the  execution  of  any  of  the 
above.     The  back  is  available  for  any  sketches,  etc. 

The  receipt  is  to  be  punched  in  its  proper  place  on  his  supe- 
rior's ticket  by  a  foreman  receiving  an  order  ticket  from  him : 
this  makes  him  accountable  for  the  order.  When  his  part  of 
the  job  is  done,  he  punches  out  his  number  on  the  completion 
line  and  returns  the  ticket  to  him  from  whom  he  received  it.  He 
keeps  no  other  record. 

(Note. — Foremen  and  others  are  known  by  certain  numbers,  according  to  a  plan 
described  page  91.) 

The  authority  is  abbreviated  in  the  proper  place,  viz. :  O.  O. 
(Ordnance  Office)  ;  O.  S.  (Order  of  Supplies)  ;  Req.  (Requisi- 
tion) ;  C.  O.  (Commanding  Officer),  etc.,  on  the  originals,  or  by 
the  proper  punch  mark  on  sub-orders. 

Use  of  the  Order  Tickets. 

Taking  the  simplest  case  first :  supposing  that  there  is  no  inter- 
mediary between  the  office  and  the  shops,  and  that  there  is  only 
one  foreman  ;  the  duplicate  tickets  go  with  the  order  book  to  the 
foreman.  He  compares  them  with  the  book,  signs  the  latter  and 
immediately  returns  it  to  the  office. 

If  he  has  some  one  whom  he  can  put  to  work  at  once,  say  a 
blacksmith,  he  gives  him  one  ticket  and  puts  the  other  in  the 
rack,  see  page  92,  corresponding  to  the  department  where  the 
man  is  employed. 

If  there  is  no  labor  available,  he  sticks  both  tickets,  folded  to- 
gether, in  a  similar  rack  near  by.  Thus  he  has  always  standing 
before  him  an  exact  epitome  (i)  of  what  work  is  in  progress, 
and  (2)  of  what  is  awaiting  attention. 

Each  workman  should  have  a  small  rack  over  his  bench  in 
which  to  display  such  orders  as  he  may  have  in  charge ;  thus 
giving  to  all,  from  the  foremen  to  the  Commanding  Officer,  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  at  a  glance  what  work  is  going  on  and  who 
is  doing  it,  whether  the  workman  is  present  or  not.     See  page  93. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  147 

When  the  blacksmith,  having  completed  his  task,  returns  the 
ticket,  the  foreman  acts  as  follows,  according  to  the  case : 

1.  If  the  job  has  been  finished  to  his  satisfaction,  he  stamps 
both  tickets  with  the  date  when  completed,  keeps  one  of  them 
and  returns  the  other  to  the  office  after  identifying  it  by  punching 
out  his  shop  number  in  the  "  completion  "  line.  He  keeps  no 
other  record. 

In  the  office,  the  date  of  completion  is  entered  in  the  proper 
column  of  the  Order  Book.  The  tickets  are  then  sorted  according 
to  the  official  classification,  so  as  to  serve  as  the  basis  for  making 
out  the  monthly  "  Report  of  Work  done."  After  this  they  are 
sorted  in  order  of  numbers,  and  placed  in  trays,  page  94,  with 
other  tickets  previously  completed,  for  ready  reference  when 
required. 

2.  Should  the  job  require  further  work  by  another  man,  say  a 
carpenter,  the  foreman  takes  both  duplicates  and  puts  them  in 
the  carpenter's  division  of  rack  No.  2,  awaiting  the  disengagement 
of  the  particular  labor  required ;  or  else  he  simply  transfers  the 
smith's  ticket  to  a  carpenter.  He  picks  out  from  rack  No.  2  other 
work  for  the  smith,  divides  the  tickets,  gives  him  one  and  trans- 
fers the  other  to  the  active  list  of  rack  No.  I.  Should  he  wish  to 
keep  both  men  at  work  on  the  same  job  at  once,  he  gives  to  one 
a  similar  white  ticket,  bearing  the  order  number  and  such  details 
as  are  necessary  for  his  guidance,  and  substantiates  the  proceed- 
ing by  punching  the  authority  space.  The  duplicate  of  this  ticket 
should  be  treated  as  the  others  were. 

3.  Should  the  foreman  have  to  give  an  order  based  on  one  of 
the  standing  orders,  he  makes  out  a  duplicate  white  card  and 
treats  it  as  before  explained. 

Whenever  a  duplicate  ticket  is  turned  in  to  him  as  complete, 
he  sends  it  to  the  office,  as  an  indication  of  the  progress  made  in 
the  work,  and  also  as  a  check  on  his  management.  This  permits 
him  to  act  freely  by  requiring  only  a  record  of  his  acts. 

In  making  out  order  tickets  the  foreman  should  be  careful  to 
indicate  on  them,  as  far  as  he  may,  the  proper  symbols  to  be  used 
by  the  workman  in  reporting  his  resulting  work.  The  manner  of 
doing  this  is  explained  page  97  and  Chap.  XII,  XIII. 


148  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Taking  next  a  more  complicated  case,  where  there  are  several 
foremen  united  under  a  master  workman,  who,  in  turn,  is  under 
the  orders  of  the  Officer  in  Charge  of  the  shops  (Executive 
Officer),  the  following  would  be  the  course  : 

Following  the  principle  of  making  clerks  do  clerks'  work,  as 
many  copies  of  the  order  as  may  be  required,  not  less  than  three, 
are  made  in  the  office  and  are  sent  with  the  book,  as  before,  to 
the  Officer  in  Charge.  He  signs  the  book  and  sends  the  tickets  to 
the  Master  Workman,  who  punches  one  ticket  and  returns  it, 
keeping  the  others,  which  he  distributes  to  the  foremen  whose 
departments  are  to  work  on  the  job.  The  Master  Workman  takes 
their  receipt  by  their  punch  marks  on  his  own  ticket,  which,  like 
the  Officer  in  Charge,  he  places  in  the  rack  corresponding  to  the 
department  in  which  the  work  is  to  begin,  and  so  on. 

The  foremen,  as  well  as  himself,  may  issue  subsidiary  white 
tickets,  giving  in  detail  orders  for  such  components  of  the  work 
as  are  necessary. 

The  job  being  completed,  each  one  passes  his  ticket  to  the  one 
from  whom  he  received  it,  so  that  finally  the  office  is  informed 
of  its  completion  and  the  order  is  crossed  off  the  book. 

Remarks. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  but  one  book  involved  in  the 
whole  process  ;  and  that  this  book,  serving  both  for  original  entry 
and  for  final  record,  is  practically  always  at  the  office,  where  it  is 
most  required.  The  subsidiary  operations,  being  within  a  sub- 
ordinate jurisdiction,  are  carried  on  by  order  tickets  based  on  the 
authority  of  the  original  entry,  either  directly  or  by  derivation 
from  it. 

The  tendency  is  always  to  give  orders  which  are  explicit,  be- 
cause in  writing;  and  proper,  because  based  upon  authority. 
They  are  given  in  the  loose  memorandum  form,  which  is  the  most 
natural  and  convenient;  and  they  have  besides  the  conspicuous 
advantages  of  portability  and  distribution  combined  with  the 
possibility  of  formal  delivery  and  receipt,  thus  giving  them  a 
force  which  no  stray  slip  of  paper,  unsupported  by  the  order 
book,  could  have. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  149 

The  tickets  follow  the  work  in  all  its  stages,  both  fortifying  the 
workman  by  their  assurance,  and  affording  necessary  information 
to  the  workman's  superior.  Finally,  the  work  being  done,  they 
pass  definitely  away,  leaving  a  clean  score  for  other  entries,  to 
which  an  undivided  attention  may  be  applied. 

The  difference  between  the  tickets  and  the  "  fabrication  book  " 
of  the  present  system,  see  page  57,  is  now  apparent:  instead  of 
the  completed  orders  occupying  the  most  room,  they  now  dis- 
appear from  view  as  soon  as  done ;  while  the  only  real  objects  of 
interest,  the  incomplete  orders,  are  most  conspicuously  displayed 
before  those  who  have  them  in  charge. 

The  standing  orders  give  the  system  the  flexibility  without 
which  it  would  fail ;  they  permit  it  to  be  conducted  as  rigidly  or 
as  loosely  as  may  be  desired.  Whether  loosely  or  rigidly  carried 
on,  the  result  will  certainly  appear  in  the  summing  up  of  the 
year's  work.  The  more  specifically  the  orders  are  originally  given, 
the  better  can  the  resulting  charges  be  distributed  to  where  their 
burden  belongs ;  the  more  loosely  they  are  given,  the  larger  will 
be  the  account  for  indefinite  miscellaneous  expenses. 

Between  the  fear  of  making  his  current  work  cost  too  much, 
and  of  being  reproved  for  the  undue  size  of  his  general  expense 
accounts,  the  foreman  will  naturally  incline  to  an  accurate  placing 
of  every  charge  he  controls,  for  he  knows  that  all  expenses  appear 
somewhere  in  his  accounts. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  an  order  ticket  does  not  represent 
either  labor,  material  or  product.  It  is  only  a  memorandum  of 
the  authority  by  which  certain  expenses  are  to  be  incurred.  At- 
tempts to  combine  this  with  the  other  ideas  will  result  in 
confusion. 


ISO 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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CHAPTER  XII. 

PROPOSED    SYSTEM. 
B.  INTERNAL  RELATIONS.— ConimMcA. 


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152  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

I.  Inside  Services. 

Each  workman  is  supplied  with  a  book  of  fifty  pages,  each  page 
containing  a  coupon  card  2|  x  5  g  inches  and  a  stub  about  i  \  inches 
wide,  in  which,  to  save  him  writing,  is  stamped  his  shop  number, 
his  name,  and  his  wages  per  time  unit,  unless  he  is  working  by 
the  piece.  Should  he  be  steadily  engaged  at  piece  work  at  the 
same  price,  his  wages  per  piece  unit  should  be  stamped  in  the 
proper  place. 

His  employment  begins  from  the  time  he  receives  the  book : 
this  prevents  at  the  start  many  causes  of  misunderstanding  as  to 
when  services  began  and  as  to  the  wages  to  be  paid. 

When  the  workman  goes  to  work  in  the  morning,  he  gets  his 
book  from  the  foreman,  and  when  he  leaves  work  he  returns  it  to 
him,  made  out  so  as  to  indicate  the  distribution  of  his  time  dur- 
ing the  day. 

Day^  or  Time   Work. 

The  workman  makes  but  one  entry  on  each  leaf,  so  that,  if  the 

time  unit  in  his  shop  be  the  quarter  day,  he  may  have,  at  the 

most,  four  pages  to  fill,  representing  four  different  jobs.     If  time 

is  kept  by  the  hour  or  by  the  half  hour,  he  may  have  ten  or 

twenty  pages  to  fill,  depending  on  the  variety  of  his  employment. 

If  working  steadily  at  the  same  job  all  day  long,  he  will  have  but 

one  page  to  fill,  although  the  units  recorded  will  be  4,  10  or  20, 

according  to  the  time-reckoning  adopted  in  the  shop. 

(Note. — This  supposes  the  usual  custom  of  reckoning  lo  hours  to  a  clay's  work, 
although,  in  government  workshops,  the  number  is  now  reduced  to  8.) 

He  fills  that  portion  of  the  card  showing  the  employment  by 
writing  under  "  Charge  to  "  the  symbols  explained  in  Chapter 
IX,  adding  such  details  as  may  be  required  to  make  the 
symbols  explicit,  in  the  middle  space.  In  the  "  time  unit"  space 
he  puts  down  the  number  of  quarter  days,  hours,  half  hours,  etc., 
he  has  worked  on  the  job  represented  in  the  first  column,  and  on 
the  stub  he  makes  such  memoranda  as  he  may  wish  to  keep  for 
his  own  information.  He  then  returns  the  whole  book  to  his 
foreman. 

The  book  thus  serves  a  double  purpose  ;  it  affords  the  workman 
an  opportunity  of  making  a  formal,  definite  charge  for  his  labor, 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  153 

and  it  gives  him  the  only  opportunity  of  doing  so.  Thus  it  takes 
the  place  of  a  roll  call  or  time  check  when  beginning  or  quitting 
work,  and  it  makes  the  man  who  knows  most  about  his  work  re- 
sponsible at  the  start  for  the  correctness  of  the  charges.  After 
the  close  of  work  the  foreman  looks  over  the  books,  verifies  the 
charges,  tears  ofif  the  coupons,  stamps  them  with  the  date  and 
sends  them  to  the  office. 

Absentees  for  a  whole  day  are  so  marked  on  a  leaf  taken  out 
of  their  own  books.  This  prevents  all  future  questions  as  to  the 
workman's  having  been  actually  engaged  or  not  on  that  day;  the 
fact  is  settled  at  the  time  by  the  most  competent  authority.  Those 
absent  for  a  part  of  a  day,  if  coming  late,  have  the  first  page  filled 
out  to  show  the  number  of  units  absent,  when  they  receive  their 
books  from  the  foreman ;  those  leaving  early  have  the  last  page 
similarly  filled  by  the  foreman  at  the  time  they  leave  the  shop. 

As  a  precaution  against  fraud,  and  for  other  purposes,  the  coup- 
ons of  each  book  are  serially  numbered.  A  further  precaution 
could  be  taken  by  requiring  each  coupon  to  be  signed  with  the 
most  characteristic  of  all  signatures,  viz.,  the  impression  of  the  ball 
of  the  writer's  right  thumb  in  such  ink  as  is  supplied  with  the 
ordinary  rubber  stamps.  Except  for  a  special  purpose.  Chapter 
XV,  such  a  precaution  is  probably  unnecessary,  and,  unless  ex- 
perience proves  its  wisdom,  would  probably  cost  more  in  time  and 
trouble  than  would  be  lost  by  omitting  it  from  the  scheme. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  wait  until  the  day  is  over  to  collect  the 
books;  they  may  be  taken  in  as  the  men  pass  out  to  dinner,  and 
returned  to  them  as  they  come  back  to  work.  This  would  pre- 
vent them  from  coming  to  work  in  the  morning,  scaling  the  fence 
and  returning  in  the  afternoon  in  time  to  return  their  books. 
This  practice  is  not  unknown  in  places  where  men  are  much 
scattered  out  of  doors. 

The  workman  is  not  required  to  wait  until  the  end  of  the  day 
to  record  his  employment ;  he  may  easily  put  down  his  time  as 
each  job  he  is  working  on  is  completed.  Even  should  the  job 
be  taken  up  again,  later  in  the  day,  no  harm  is  done  by  having 
two  cards  for  it. 

The  proper  symbols  are  gotten  from  the  order  tickets,  given 


1 54  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

individually,    or  displayed  on  a    rack   or  bulletin    board  in  the 
workshop. 

Every  room  of  consequence  should  have  a  time  piece,  or,  in 
extended  works,  time  might  be  indicated  as  on  board  ship,  by 
whistle  blasts,  bells  or  gongs  marking  the  time  units. 

The  40th  or  45th  page  of  every  book  should  be  of  a  special 
color,  or  be  distinguished  by  a  special  mark,  so  that,  when  the 
book  becomes  that  far  exhausted,  another  may  be  prepared  in 
season.  This  saves  keeping  a  large  number  of  books  stamped 
for  each  man,  and  avoids  the  loss  resulting  from  sudden  dis- 
charges, etc. 

Piece   Work. 

A  man  working  on  piece  work,  who  has  completed  a  suitable 
batch  of  pieces,  makes  out  a  ticket  to  correspond,  and  gives  it 
with  the  pieces  made  to  the  foreman  or  inspector.  If  the  work 
receives  the  inspector's  approval,  he  punches  the  service  card  and 
forwards  it  with  the  other  cards.  Whatever  deductions  are 
necessary,  are  indicated  on  the  face  of  the  card,  so  that  it  may 
tell  its  own  story  completely.  The  amount  space  may  be  filled, 
or  not,  at  pleasure  ;  it  is  for  convenience  in  saving  recomputation. 

Besides  making  a  charge  for  his  labor,  it  is  almost  as  necessary 
that  the  piece  workman  shall  inform  the  office  of  how  much  time 
he  has  spent  on  his  work,  so  as  to  guide  the  office  in  future  ad- 
justments of  the  tariff. 

For  this  purpose  the  piece  workman  should  give  every  day  an 
account  of  the  time  units  employed  on  his  job  ;  but  to  prevent  his 
getting  paid  for  them  by  day's  wages,  by  accident,  he  should 
cross  out  the  figures  giving  his  "  price  per  unit,"  so  that  the  card 
will  give  simply  a  time  record,  at  no  price.  This,  for  a  man  who 
usually  works  by  the  day  and  only  occasionally  by  the  piece.  If 
he  is  generally  employed  by  the  piece,  it  would  be  better  to  have 
the  "price  per  unit"  blank,  and  let  him  fill  it  when  required. 

The  foreman's  dating  mark  is  taken  as  his  acknowledgment  of 
the  correctness  of  the  charges,  and  also  serves  to  sort  all  cards  of 
the  same  date  together,  if  they  should  become  separated.  By 
having  him  stamp  them  all  with  the  same  date,  it  becomes 
unnecessary  to  depend  upon  the  workman's  accuracy  in  reckoning 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  155 

the  calendar,  and  he  is  saved  just  so  much  writing.  In  efifect  he 
writes  no  more  on  each  card  than  he  would  for  each  job,  if  all 
the  entries  were  made  on  one  '*  Time  Card,"  as  is  now  done  at 
Frankford  Arsenal. 

We  thus  have  all  the  operations  of  each  member  of  each 
department  for  the  same  day  narrated  in  the  truest  and  fullest 
possible  manner ;  it  now  remains  to  show  how  this  information  is 
utilized. 

The  cards  go  to  the  Cost  Clerk  and  are  shuffled,  first,  by  names 
of  workman ;  second,  by  shop-order  numbers  under  each  name. 
The  time  is  then  entered  in  the  time  book,  Chapter  XV,  opposite 
to  the  shop-orders  on  which  the  man  has  been  employed.  This  is 
to  enable  each  workman's  wages  to  be  charged  to  the  proper 
appropriation.  In  private  shops  all  that  would  be  necessary  would 
be  to  put  down  his  total  time  or  wages  for  the  day  on  form  A, 
page  60.  The  cards  corresponding  to  each  order  number  are 
then  placed  in  a  pigeon  hole  bearing  the  number  of  the  order  on 
a  detachable  adhesive  ticket  (target  paster).  Those  denoting 
absence  are  sorted  by  rates  of  wages  and  placed  in  a  separate 
pigeon  hole. 

Each  pigeon  hole  shows  at  a  glance  what  labor  has  been  done 
on  the  job  it  represents,  when,  and  by  whom.  Every  empty 
pigeon  hole  testifies  to  a  job  so  far  untouched,  and  so  on. 

When  the  order  ticket  comes  back  "  completed,"  the  cards 
corresponding  to  it  are  taken  out,  the  summation  of  rates  rapidly 
made.  Chapter  XV,  the  paster  torn  off,  and  the  pigeon  hole  made 
ready  for  another  number.  The  cards  may  then  be  filed  away  by 
order  numbers,  or  may  be  shuffled  according  to  C,  O.,  N., 
Chapter  XV,  and  combined  with  others  bearing  the  same  symbols 
under  other  order  numbers ;  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  year,  or 
earlier,  a  definite  idea  may  be  readily  had  of  the  cost  of  performing 
each  operation  on  every  one  of  the  staple  products  of  the  shop. 

General  Remarks. 
What  has  been  said  is  predicated  on  the  supposition  that  the 
employees  are  all  able  to  write.     Where  this  docs  not  hold  good, 
it  will  be  necessary  for  the  illiterate  to  find  some  one  to  make 


156  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

out  their  cards ;  but  if  they  should  be  employed  in  large  numbers, 
the  services  of  a  time  keeper  will  be  necessary.  He  should  get 
their  cards  at  stated  intervals  and  make  them  out,  but  the  books 
should  be  in  the  men's  own  keeping.  I  have  never  known  trouble 
of  any  kind  to  result  in  our  workshops  from  the  illiteracy  of  em- 
ployees, although  it  is  no  new  thing  that  they  are  required  to  write. 

Cards  for  soldier  workmen,  whose  wages  are  only  nominally 
computed,  should  be  on  paper  of  a  different  color  from  that  reserved 
for  men  whose  names  go  on  the  pay  roll.  This  helps  to  tell  the 
story  of  the  pigeon  holes,  and  prevents  mistakes  elsewhere. 

It  would  be  well,  especially  in  private  jobbing  shops,  to  turn  in 
service  cards  for  the  principal  machines  employed.  The 
"  wages  per  unit "  might  be  based  upon  their  daily  interest  and 
depreciation,  besides  cost  of  taxes  and  insurance. 

2.  Outside  Services. 

Services  rendered  within  the  arsenal,  and  paid  for  on  the  pay 
roll,  can  be  easily  reckoned  and  distributed  as  before  described ; 
but  for  those  performed  without  supervision,  outside,  and  paid  by 
separate  voucher,  no  special  provision  was  made  until  attention 
was  called  to  them  by  Captain  Michaelis. 

Such  services  are  express,  messenger  and  telegraph  service ; 
freighting  and  the  traveling  expenses  of  workmen  and  others. 
For  these  he  used  a  special  service  card,  stating  the  service  per- 
formed, and  the  shop-order  to  which  it  should  be  charged ;  and 
it  was  further  ordered  that  no  voucher  would  be  approved  for 
payment  unless  accompanied  by  the  corresponding  cards.  This 
wise  provision  served  to  catch  many  charges  which  had  previously 
escaped  analysis,  and  made  the  resulting  cost  more  accurate  and 
consistent. 

I  have  adapted  to  the  reckoning  of  outside  services  this  new 
form  of  the  old  "  Time  Card  "  (which  name  was  only  partly 
significant),  and  have  thus  made  the  new  "  Service  Card  "  answer 
for  both  inside  and  outside  services,  as  it  well  might,  since  they 
are,  in  their  nature,  precisely  similar.  The  new  card  is  also 
adapted  to  piece  work,  which  was  but  little  practiced  at  Frank- 
ford  Arsenal. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


157 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards 

Note. — The  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-n  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(I.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR  2   1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  ^^4 

N,  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.    Of-. 

AMOUNT. 

0. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.  ff- 

/. 

(2.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR   3   1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to- 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  ^^4 

N.  B.   Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

4 

c.     (^ 

AlVrOTTNT 

0. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.  f-y- 

/. 

158 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — The  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-11  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(3-) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal.         APR   3    1885 


No. 


Name. 


235, 


Lannigan, 


Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail.                         No.  of  units. 

s-o.   <^y^ 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

4 

c.  a 

AMOUNT 

o. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N. 

(4.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal.         APR   4   1885 


No. 


Name. 


235, 


Lannigan, 


Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  6^/ 

N.  B.   Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.    d. 

AMOUNT. 

0. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N. 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


159 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — The  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-i  i  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(S-) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR  4  1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-0.  6 /^ 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

6 

c.     (?. 

AMOUNT. 

0. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N. 

(6.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 


No. 


Na] 


APR   6   1885 

Price  per  unit. 


235 

Lannigan, 

0,25 

Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  ^0^ 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.  a 

AMOUNT. 

0.0/ 

cfy 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     cf-/ 

^cf 

i6o 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — The  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-11  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(7-) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 


APR   6   1885 

Price  per  unit. 


235 

\ 

Lannigan, 

0,25 

Charge  to- 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  y^/ 

/(U^t^'}'yiJ2yC€^     S.J 
N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

C.     C7. 

AIVTOTJNT 

S^ 

0.0^ 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     S^ 

'S 

(8.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR   6   1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  -/O/ 

N.  B.   Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.     oi. 

AMOUNT. 

s^ 

0.0^ 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     S^ 

'c3 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


i6i 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — Tlie  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-11  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(9-) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR   6   1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  ^0^ 

/Oii^tZ'^yiJi^e    S.J 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.    (7/ 

o.c/ 

cfy 

£ixn\j\jSW. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     S^ 

'J 

(10.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal.         APR   6   1885 


No. 


Name. 


235, 


Lannigan, 


Price  per  unit. 

0.25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  SS/ 

N.  B.   Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.   a 

A  IWf  OTTNT 

0. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     fc^ 

^y 

l62 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — The  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-i  i  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(II.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lanni2:an, 


APR   6   1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  J^/// 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.     Of 

AMOUNT 

0. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.   y^ 

U 

(12.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR  7    1885 

Price  per  unit. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

S-O.  J^S 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.      cy. 

AMOUNT. 

y 

o.aC. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     SJ. 

U 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


163 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — The  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-ii  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(I3-) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 


APR   8   1885 

Price  per  unit. 


235 

, 

Lannigan, 

%B§ 

Charge  to- 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o.  J^S 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.     d^ 

AMOUNT. 

y 

o.c^ 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     S^ 

u 

(I4-) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 


No. 


Name. 


235, 


Lannigan, 


APR  9    1885 

Price  per  unit. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

S-O.  £^S 

N.  B.   Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.      cy. 

AMOUNT. 

y 

o.cd. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.     SA 

u 

164 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — The  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-1 1  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

(I5-) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR   9   1885 

Price  per  unit. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-0.  J^S 

(  ^aic/ /ianc/ie(^  Ou  /oilman  oz  ini^^iectoi  in 
time  iMut  <fhac6.J 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

^0 

Time. 

X 

c.    a/. 

AMOUNT. 

y 

o.ai. 

Doll's. 

/ 

Cents. 

SO 

N.     S£ 

U 

(16.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR  9    1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 


Nature  of  service  in  detail. 


No.  of  units. 


s-o.   4f 
c.      0/ 


0.0/ 


y 


N.   cfcJy 


Ad-edd-. 


tZ'ti^ 


N.  B.   Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


Pieces. 


Time. 


4 


AMOUNT. 


Doll's.     Cents 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


165 


Examples  Illustrating  the  Practical  Use  of  the  Service  Cards. 

Note. — Tlie  card  is  here  reduced  to  fit  the  page.     The  references  on  cards  6-1 1  are 
to  the  examples  in  notation,  page  131. 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal. 

No.  Name. 

235,  Lannigan, 


APR  10  1885 

Price  per  unit. 

0,25. 


Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  of  units. 

s-o. 

N.  B.    Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c. 

AMOUNT. 

0. 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N. 

(18.) 

SERVICE  CARD,  Frankford  Arsenal.         APR  11    1885 


No. 


Name. 


Price  per  unit. 


236 

s 

Lannigan, 

0,25 

• 

Charge  to — 

Nature  of  service  in  detail. 

No.  01  units. 

s-o.  -/O^ 

N.  B.   Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Pieces. 

Time. 

c.   a 

A  IVrOTTTJT 

o.D 

^0 

Doll's. 

Cents. 

N.   y^ 

^s 

1 66  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

3.  Shop  Expenses. 

The  running  expenses  of  a  workshop  are  incurred  only  to 
organize  its  labor  for  profit.  To  this  end  buildings,  power, 
machinery,  etc.,  are  supplied  and  maintained,  and  provision  made 
for  lighting,  warming,  and  directing  the  labor  employed.  Without 
labor  these  expenses  serve  at  the  best  only  the  negative  good  of 
maintaining  unchanged  material  which  the  workshop  has  been 
organized  for  the  express  purpose  of  changing,  see  page  39. 
With  labor,  these  expenses  bear  fruit,  and  the  more  labor  they 
can  profitably  organize,  the  more  will  they  return  on  their 
investment. 

Hence,  for  the  reasons  stated  pages  74,  97,  the  running  ex- 
penses for  any  year  are  to  be  distributed  among  the  special 
expenses  by  increasing  on  these  the  charge  for  labor ;  this  is 
done  as  follows : 

First  we  make  all  charges  for  labor  as  specific  as  possible, 
leaving  as  little  as  possible  for  the  standing  orders  or  general  ex- 
pense accounts,  see  page  142  and  Chapter  XV.  Then,  as  we  can 
never  exactly  tell  what  the  general  expenses  for  a  year  will  be  till 
that  year  is  past,  we  assume  that  there  will  be  no  great  variation 
from  past  experience,  and  divide  the  total  general  shop  expenses 
for  last  year  by  the  total  number  of  hours'  shop-work  done  in  that 
year ;  we  thus  obtain  a  load  by  which  to  increase  the  charge  for 
each  hour's  labor  during  the  present  year. 

Correcting  annually  by  inventory  and  specially  for  fluctuations 
as  described  Chapter  XVI,  we  may  apply  the  average  charge 
of  the  first  two  years  to  the  third  year,  and  so  on. 

The  load  will  vary  in  direct  ratio  to  the  general  expenses,  and 
inversely  to  the  amount  of  labor  in  operation  at  any  one  time ;  it 
will  be  affected  by  many  other  circumstances,  and  will  depend  much 
upon  the  management.  From  the  experience  of  a  private  manu- 
facturer I  take  it  for  his  particular  shop  as  15  cents  per  hour. 
In  the  examples  relating  to  cost  it  is  arbitrarily  assumed  as  3  cents 
per  hour. 

In  this  discussion  the  additional  charge  for  labor  due  to  the 
application  of  this  load  is  known  as  shop  expenses.     It  relates  ex- 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  167 

clusively  to  the  distribution  of  the  running  expenses  of  the  work- 
shops as  distinguished  from  those  pertaining  to  the  miUtary  part 
of  the  estabhshment.  Among  such  expenses  are  those  authorized 
by  the  following  Standing  Orders,  page  142  :  Frankford Arsenal, 
Nos.  213,  214,  216,  217,  219,222;  and  Benicia  Arsenal,  Nos.  2, 
12,  13,  14,  and  3,  6^  "],  11  in  part. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PROPOSED    SYSTEM. 
B.  INTERNAL  RELA  7y(9A^5,— Continued. 

3.  Material  Card. 

DESCRIPTION. 

The  face  of  the  card  is  divided  by  horizontal  rules  into  five 
distinct  sections,  the  names  of  which  appear  in  the  right-hand 
margin. 

Title  Section. 

This  has  a  place  for  the  date  and  for  indicating  by  the  proper 
symbols  the  agents  between  whom  the  transaction  reported  has 
taken  place.  Thus  "  Receipts  and  issues  from  Z  to  W  to  ^  to 
fabrication  "  or  "  fab."  would  mean  that  the  material  had  been 
originally  received  from  the  outside  world  (Z)  by  the  keeper  of 
warehouses  (W),  see  page  91  ;  had  been  issued  by  him  to  the 
foreman  of  the  loading-room  (4),  and  had  by  him  been  finally 
expended  in  manufacture  (fab.)  ;  all  these  transactions  being 
immediately  consecutive. 

On  the  next  line  is  a  place  for  the  stock  clerk  to  indicate  the 
vouchers  and  abstracts  to  which  each  transaction  belongs. 

Material  Section. 

This  indicates  distinctly  the  name,  etc.,  of  the  material  involved. 
Full  space  is  given  for  explanatory  remarks  as  to  dimensions, 
quality,  purpose,  etc. 

The  "  class  "  space  is  for  the  use  of  the  stock  clerk.  See  page  44. 

The  "  condition  "  space  is  to  indicate  the  serviceability  of  the 
stores ;  when  left  blank  they  are  supposed  to  be  serviceable. 

On  the  left  is  a  space  for  writing  the  quantity  of  the  material 
used.  To  mark  the  difference  between  quantities  which  are  only 
estimated  or  assumed  and  those  which  are  actually  dealt  with, 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  169 

and  also  to  allow  for  discrepancies  between  quantities  invoiced 
and  those  received,  a  separate  space  is  provided  for  each  kind  of 
entry  under  the  general  names  "  assumed  "  and  "  actual."  And 
since  units  of  measure  differ  so  much,  even  for  the  same  mate- 
rial, a  separate  space  is  provided  for  the  unit  in  each  case.  For 
an  illustration  see  case  2,  post. 

Beneath  is  a  space  for  the  "price  per  unit"  of  the  material, 
and  one  for  the  amount  or  total  value  of  the  quantity  of  material 
at  the  price  named. 

Having  thus  fully  described  the  agents  using  the  material,  and 
the  material  itself,  the  card  proceeds  to  tell  what  is  done  with  it. 

Cost  Section. 

This  is  for  the  use  of  the  cost  clerk  in  connection  with  the 
symbc.ls  previously  described.  It  shows  in  the  smallest  detail 
required,  the  purpose  of  each  expenditure  reported,  whether  as  a 
charge  or  a  credit  to  some  shop-order,  or  both.  See  rule  3  and 
cases  7  and  16,  post. 

Stock  Section. 

This  relates  exclusively  to  the  stock  clerk.  In  the  upper  portion; 
is  space  for  a  full  description  of  the  package  in  which  the  stores. 
were  received  into  the  arsenal,  or  in  which  they  were  issued  from, 
it.  This  need  only  be  filled  in  certain  special  cases  hereafter 
described,  viz.,  in  receipts  without  invoice  or  bill,  and  in  issues. 
to  the  outside  world,  Z. 

Next  below  comes  the  vital  part  of  the  card,  showing  the  nature 
of  the  transaction  with  the  material  above  described.  This  is  done 
by  the  place  of  the  attesting  punch-mark,  as  follows: 

All  transactions  with  material  may  be  reduced  to  two  classes, 
receipts  and  issues.  Whoever  receives  new  material,  or  old  mate- 
rial with  a  new  name  conferred  by  the  process  of  fabrication, 
punches  "  received  "  in  his  own  proper  space.  If  he  issues  it  to 
another  person  or  disposes  of  it  by  transfer  or  fabrication,  he 
punches  "  issued,"  marks  the  disposition  in  the  title  section,  and, 
if  the  material  is  issued  to  another  person,  gets  him  to  punch 
"  received  "  at  the  time  that  the  stores  change  hands.     Thus  he 


I70  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

may  both  receive  a  thing  and  issue  it  on  the  same  card,  by 
punching  twice :  once  as  received,  and  once  as  issued.  Two 
agents  may  each  do  this,  aUowing  the  record  of  four  transactions 
on  the  same  card.  See  pages  178,  222.  Two  punch-marks  on 
the  same  card  express  a  simultaneous  issue  and  receipt,  and  so 
on ;  each  mark  means  exactly  what  it  most  evidently  says,  and 
can  mean  nothing  else.  Every  possible  transaction  with  material 
may  thus  be  unmistakably  represented  and  indelibly  recorded 
with  the  least  waste  of  energy  and  time. 

L.  S.  Section. 

This  is  used  in  authenticating  entries  which  do  not  concern  the 
stock  clerk.  It  is  a  mere  locus  sigilli,  meant  to  prevent  the 
attesting  punch-mark  from  appearing  in  the  wrong  place. 

Remark. 
The  cost  clerk  concerns  himself  with  the  interpretation  of  the 
entries  in  the  material  section,  by  the  indications  of  the  cost 
section ;  and  the  stock  clerk,  with  the  interpretation  of  the  same 
entries  by  the  indications  of  the  stock  section.  Thus  they  both, 
h"ke  others  yet  to  be  shown,  act  independently  on  the  same 
original  entry  in  a  manner  determined  by  their  special  functions. 
This  saves  writing  and  prevents  mistakes  in  transcribing. 

Back  of  the  Card. 

The  requisition  space  is  so  placed  that  the  punch-marks  used  as 
signatures  to  the  requisition  come  through  on  the  other  side  in 
the  L.  S.  section.  This  is  so  arranged  in  consequence  of  the  re- 
quirement, page  31,  that  all  the  communication  with  Z  must  be 
through  the  Commanding  Officer,  which  applies  to  receipts  as  well 
as  to  issues.  His  sanction  for  issues  is  given  directly  by  punching 
the  L.  S.  section  as  from  the  front,  before  the  issue  can  be  made ; 
his  sanction  for  a  receipt  is  found  there  indirectly  in  consequence 
of  his  approval  of  the  requisition  on  the  other  side.     See  case  2. 

Next  comes  a  double  column,  like  that  on  the  correspondence 
card,  which  may  be  used  in  the  same  way  for  passing  the  card 
through  the  post-office.  See  pages  22,  90.  It  is  not  intended 
that  all  cards  should  be  so  marked.  In  practice  they  are  sent  in 
bundles,  or  are  passed  directly  from  hand  to  hand. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  171 

Use  of  the  Material  Card. 

PRELIMINARY     REMARKS. 

Use  of  the  Price  Space. 

This  is  an  important  feature  in  the  card,  on  account  of  the 
familiarity  it  affords  those  most  directly  engaged  upon  the  ex- 
penditures with  the  cost  of  what  they  are  consuming,  and  for  the 
brevity  of  description  which  it  permits.  For  example,  suppose 
a  certain  quality  of  paper  to  have  been  used  in  fabrication  ;  how 
much  better  to  describe  it  at  once  as  so  many  quires  of  paper  at 
so  much  per  quire,  than  to  attempt  to  specify  its  characteristics 
so  that  another  person  may  give  it  the  proper  price. 

I  know  that  it  is  often  thought  inexpedient  to  let  prices  paid 
for  material  be  known  in  the  workshop ;  but  the  disadvantages 
resulting  from  this  course  are  so  slight  and  indirect,  compared 
with  the  benefits  which  follow  the  free  promulgation  of  this  knowl- 
edge, that  I  doubt  whether  any  one  would  return  to  the  secret 
system  after  having  fairly  tried  the  other. 

Should  I  be  mistaken  in  this  view,  it  would  be  easy  to  have  a 
standard  price  list  for  book-keeping  purposes,  variations  between 
which  and  the  true  cost  could  be  adjusted  by  those  conversant 
with  the  key. 

Prices  are  made  known  as  follows :  When  the  goods  are  re- 
ceived, the  packages  are  marked  with  a  rubber  stamp  or  a  tag, 
showing  first  to  which  class  they  belong,  then  the  name  by  which 
they  arc  to  be  known,  the  unit  by  which  to  be  accounted  for,  and 
the  price  per  unit  at  which  they  are  to  be  charged ;  also  when 
received,  and  from  whom. 

This  course  prevents  the  stock  clerk  from  getting  ahead,  say, 
on  "  paper  nails,"  and  short  on  "  finishing  nails;"  prevents  nails 
from  being  taken  up  by  the  keg,  and  charged  for  by  the  pound, 
piece  or  thousand,  etc.  The  rest  of  the  information  is  often  found 
valuable  in  ordering  fresh  supplies  or  in  identifying  old  ones. 

A  certain  discretion  is  of  course  to  be  observed  in  knowing  what 
to  mark  and  how  to  mark  it,  as  well  as  in  fixing  names  and  prices. 
The  prices  should  be  taken  from  the  bills  or  invoices  accompany- 
ing the  stores.     This  work  should  be  easily  done  by  the  assistant 


172  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

storekeepers  in  the  spare  time  afforded  by  their  proposed  exemp- 
tion from  keeping  account  books. 

Besides  the  prices  so  determined,  tables  are  prepared  and 
revised  from  time  to  time,  giving  the  nearest  estimated  prices  of 
component  parts  and  component  material.  These  tables  are  used 
in  cases,  such  as,  where  from  the  product  of  a  given  order  certain 
component  parts  are  taken  to  fill  another  order,  see  case  6. 
Also  in  the  fabrication  of  by-products,  such  as  special  tools ;  and 
even  of  such  material  as  paints,  scrap  and  component  compounds 
like  paste,  fulminate,  putty,  etc. 

The  price  should  appear  on  every  card,  except  when  the  mate- 
rial is  a  fabrication,  the  cost  of  which  is  yet  to  be  determined.  To 
show  that  this  omission  was  not  accidental,  the  price  space  in 
such  a  case  should  be  crossed  out. 

Single  Entries. 

So  great  are  the  advantages  of  working  with  small  units,  which 
can  be  combined  better  than  they  can  be  divided,  that  but  one 
entry  is  made  on  each  card. 

This  permits  the  cards  to  be  first  sorted  according  to  shop- 
orders  by  the  cost  clerk,  and,  his  purpose  having  been  served, 
they  may  be  re-sorted  by  the  stock  clerk  according  to  the  name 
of  the  material  entered  on  them ;  later  they  may  serve  the  pay 
clerk  to  classify  all  purchases  from  the  same  parties,  and  finally 
they  may  go  back  to  the  cost  clerk  to  be  filed  away  either 
according  to  the  orders  on  which  used,  or  according  to  the 
operations  involved.     See  Chapters  XII.  XIV,  XV. 

The  number  of  cards  will  be  slightly  increased  over  that  in  use 
at  Frankford  Arsenal  for  the  last  three  years  (there  each  card  has 
room  for  five  entries),  but  the  labor  of  consolidating  their  con- 
tents will  be  diminished. 

Also,  greater  flexibility  will  follow.  Suppose,  for  example, 
that  the  Commanding  Officer  should  refuse,  or  suspend,  one  item 
out  of  a  requisition  of  five;  or  that  it  should  be  impossible  to 
issue  one  item  out  of  an  invoice  of  five ;  or  that  material  to  fill  a 
requisition  should  be  ordered  from  five  different  people,  who  would 
fill  their  orders  at  times  a  month  a  part.     In  the  plan  proposed 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  173 

and  herein  adopted,  it  would  be  easy  to  act  on  each  card,  by  and 
for  itself  alone,  while  in  the  other  this  would  be  impossible. 

The  labor  of  consolidating  the  contents  of  the  cards  will  be 
diminished,  while  that  of  making  out  the  cards  will  not  be  in- 
creased ;  for  it  is  as  easy  to  write  one  line  on  each  of  five  cards, 
as  it  is  to  write  five  lines  on  one  card,  and  paper  costs  less  than 
account  books,  clerk  hire  and  running  about. 

Distribution. 

The  cards  are  to  be  so  freely  distributed  about  the  shops,  that 
any  workman  having  to  make  a  memorandum,  either  as  to  his 
wants  or  his  expenditures,  makes  it  on  one  of  these  cards  and  has 
it  authenticated  by  his  foreman's  punch-mark. 

There  is  no  scribbling  on  the  back  of  old  sandpaper  or  on 
shingles  to  be  copied  by  the  foreman,  involving  double  work  and 
double  error ;  the  thing  is  started  right  by  the  man  who  knows 
most  about  it. 

Tabular  Analysis  of  Abstracts,  etc. 

The  tables  accompanying  Chapter  X  are  designed  to  give  one 
a  general  view  of  the  subject,  and,  by  establishing  general  evident 
rules,  prevent  the  confusion  likely  to  result  when  illustrations 
only,  however  abundant,  are  given  of  special  cases.  It  will  be 
seen  that  there  is  no  question  as  to  the  mutual  relations  between 
foremen  and  storekeepers ;  each  has  only  his  own  duty  to  per- 
form. For  each,  the  question  is  simply  whether  the  transaction 
is  a  receipt  or  an  issue,  or  whether  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of 
both  a  receipt  and  an  issue.  In  any  case  he  punches  according 
to  the  facts  as  they  concern  himself,  once  for  each  act  recorded. 

The  foreman,  having  the  responsibilities  of  fabrication  added 
to  those  of  the  storekeeper,  has  a  greater  number  of  possible  cases 
to  deal  with,  and  has  besides  to  account  for  the  value  of  the  mate- 
rial committed  to  his  keeping  for  use  on  the  fabrications  with 
which  he  is  entrusted.  In  spite  of  his  greater  range  his  duty  is 
as  easily  learned  as  is  the  storekeeper's,  and  like  him,  he  can 
promptly  and  finally  decide  each  case  which  his  practice  may 
present. 


174  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

REQUISITIONS. 

Material  is  to  be  procured  from  store  or  from  Z  by  first  specify- 
ing on  the  face  of  the  card  its  name  and  the  purpose,  and  then  by 
indicating  on  the  back  in  the  requisition  space  from  which  source 
it  is  expected  and  by  whom  it  is  required.  The  requisition  is 
then  to  be  authenticated  by  the  foreman's  punching  near  the  edge 
of  the  card  opposite,  "  required  by." 

The  further  course  of  the  card  depends  upon  the  regulations 
of  the  post.  The  Commanding  Officer  may  require  all  issues 
from  store  to  foremen  to  first  receive  his  approval ;  the  embarrass- 
ing and  expensive  results  of  this  requirement  have  already  been 
dwelt  upon,  page  69.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  while  this  course  is 
not  recommended,  the  form  of  card  lends  itself  as  freely  to  it  as 
to  the  more  direct  method  proposed ;  so  that,  if  demanded,  all 
requisitions,  both  from  store  and  from  Z,  may  need  the  previous 
approval  of  the  Commanding  Officer. 

In  the  ordinary  course  they  should  pass  from  the  foreman  re- 
quiring, up  through  the  Master  Workman  and  Executive  Officer; 
but  should  a  more  direct  method  be  preferred,  there  is  nothing 
in  the  working  of  the  system  to  prevent  the  Commanding  Officer 
from  acting  directly  upon  the  request  of  any  foreman. 

Should  the  Commanding  Officer  wish  to  order  supplies  himself 
directly,  he  may  also  do  it  as  freely  as  before ;  but  he  should 
have  a  proper  card  made  out,  when,  or  before,  the  stores  arrive. 

Requisitions  from  Store. 

As  a  general  thing  it  is  proposed  to  have  storekeepers  honor 
all  demands  made  upon  them  by  foremen,  receiving  in  exchange 
for  the  stores  which  they  deliver  the  foreman's  card  punched 
"received."  The  storekeeper  punches  "issued"  on"  the  same 
card,  and  passes  the  card  on  to  the  stock  clerk,  to  be  disposed 
of  as  elsewhere  described. 

Requisitions  from  Z. 

When  materials  are  known  not  to  be  in  store,  the  requisitions 
are  made  "  from  Z  "  and  should  always  pass  through  the  inter- 
mediate channels  to  the  Commanding  Officer,  The  reason  for 
this  is,  that  a  requisition  generally  involves  a  purchase,  which 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  175 

should  be  avoided  if  possible.  Material  unnecessarily  drawn  from 
store  may  be  returned  to  it,  but  a  purchase  is  generally  irrevo- 
cable.    See  page  28. 

STORES    IN    CHARGE. 

Could  the  material  transferred  to  current  service  be  locked 
up  in  some  convenient  portion  of  the  shop,  and  only  drawn  as 
wanted  for  the  particular  purpose  to  which  it  is  to  be  charged, 
this  would  be  the  end  of  the  matter;  but  the  advantage  in  ex- 
actness so  gained  would  be  more  than  offset  by  the  inflexibility 
of  such  a  method.  We  should  be  only  one  step  beyond  the  plan 
of  going  to  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  for  everything  in  detail. 
See  page  29. 

In  Chapter  VIII,  page  83,  we  have  seen  that  the  Executive  Offi- 
cer and  his  assistants,  the  foremen,  are  responsible  both  for  units 
of  property  and  for  their  values,  and  that  these  responsibilities  are 
independently  accounted  for.  From  whatever  source  material 
may  come,  both  responsibilities  are  simultaneously  assumed  when 
it  is  "  received  "  on  the  card,  but  they  may  be  separately  dis- 
charged. 

For  example,  since  material  in  current  service  is  subject  to  waste 
and  to  the  omission  of  the  records  specifying  its  actual  consump- 
tion, it  is  required  that  no  material  shall  be  transferred  to  current 
service,  unless  its  value  is  charged  to  some  shop-order,  and  this 
order  is  that  on  which  the  material  will  be  most  probably  ex- 
pended. 

The  charge  in  the  cost  section  disposes  of  the  responsibility  far 
the  value  of  the  material,  but  leaves  that  for  the  units  of  prop- 
erty unimpaired. 

As  to  this  responsibility,  two  courses  are  open  to  the  foreman  : 
1st,  to  immediately  discharge  it  by  punching  "issued"  on  the 
same  card  on  which  the  receipt  of  the  material  has  been  acknowl- 
edged ;  2d,  by  only  punching  "  received  "  to  continue  responsible 
for  the  units  of  property  in  question,  which  are  then  said  to  be 
held  in  charge. 

The  former  alternative  should  be  followed  when  the  purpose 
of  the  issue   is  definitely  known,  as    in    prospective    expendi- 


176  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

tures.  The  latter  alternative  should  be  followed  when  the  pur- 
pose is  uncertain,  as  in  the  cases  cited,  page  30 ;  or  when  mate- 
rial like  machinery  is  to  be  held  unaltered  in  name  (page  39) 
indefinitely. 

When  the  latter  alternative  is  followed  every  subsequent  issue 
of  such  material  will  require  a  double  entry  in  the  cost  section : 
one,  a  charge  to  the  order  on  which  it  is  actually  expended,  and 
the  other  a  credit  to  the  order  under  which  it  has  been  held. 
(See  cases  9  and  10,  post.) 

At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  when  the  inventory  is  taken,  the 
value  of  the  material  actually  remaining  on  hand  is  credited  to  the 
order  under  which  it  has  been  held  during  the  past  year.  The 
order  so  stands  charged  with  all  omissions,  and  the  undistributed 
burden  falls  naturally  where  it  should  most  properly,  because  most 
probably,  be  borne. 

Differences  in  units  between  the  Inventory  and  the  Return  are 
to  be  explained  by  cards  supporting  entries  on  abstracts  F  and  4. 

Rules  for  Use  of  Material  Card. 

Note. — By  "foremen"  are  here  meant  both  actual  foremen  and  their  superiors  in 
the  Executive  Department,  and  by  "storekeepers,"  both  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper 
and  his  assistant  in  the  different  warehouses,  according  to  the  context. 

1.  Transactions  between  foreman  and  foreman,  and  between 
storekeeper  and  storekeeper,  require  no  cards;  but  transactions 
between  a  foreman  and  a  storekeeper  always  require  cards,  one 
card  reporting  all  material  of  the  same  name  dealt  with  in  each 
transaction. 

2.  Storekeepers  are  to  receive  and  issue  materials  required  in 
current  service  on  the  presentation  of  cards  properly  punched  by 
the  foremen  ;  conversely,  no  supplies  are  to  be  received  or  issued 
without  cards. 

3.  All  supplies  issued  from  store  to  current  service  must  be 
charged  to  some  shop-order  before  the  issue  is  made,  and  all  re- 
ceived into  store  from  current  service  must  be  credited  to  some 
shop-order  before  they  can  be  received.     See  tables,  Chapter  X. 

4.  Cards  accompanying  material  transferred  should  be  kept  by 
the   agent   relinquishing    the   stores,   as   his   equivalent  for   the 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  177 

property  they  represent.     He  punches  "  issued  "  and  the  other 
party  punches  "  received." 

5.  Cards  received  by  storekeepers  should  be  sent  first  to  the 
stock  clerk,  and  those  received  by  foremen  to  the  cost  clerk. 

6.  The  final  resting  place  of  the  cards  is  with  the  cost  clerk, 
but,  with  a  few  evident  exceptions,  their  course  is  not  complete 
until  they  have  been  acted  on  by  both  cost  clerk  and  stock  clerk. 

7.  Hence  the  cost  clerk  and  the  stock  clerk  should  expedite  to 
each  other  all  cards  which  do  not  bear  the  evidence  of  the  other's 
action.     This  is  indicated  by  the  stamp-mark  described  page  274. 

8.  All  transactions  with  Z  require  the  Commanding  Officer's 
punch-mark  in  the  "authority"  space. 

9.  All  vouchers,  whether  for  cash  or  property,  should  be 
accompanied  by  the  corresponding  material  cards,  when  presented 
for  the  approval  of  the  Commanding  Officer  or  his  assistants. 

10.  Previous  entries  must  never  be  completely  obliterated,  but 
the  alteration  required  must  be  distinctly  marked  in  the  place 
appointed. 

11.  For  the  information  of  the  stock  clerk,  the  title  section 
should  always  indicate  between  what  agencies  the  transaction 
occurs.  Storekeepers  are  indicated  by  their  title  letters,  and 
foremen  by  their  shop  numbers. 

Note. — In  case  of  dealings  with  Z,  the  rest  of  the  card  shows  plainly  enough  their 
nature,  but  confusion  might  arise,  possibly,  in  distinguishing  between  receipts  by 
fabrication  and  by  transfer,  leading  to  articles  which  were  merely  transferred  from  one 
class  to  another  being  taken  up  as  new  fabrications,  etc.  To  guard  against  this,  in 
dealing  with  fabrications,  the  contraction  "  fab."  or  its  equivalent  should  be  used  in  the 
title  section,  whether  the  case  represent  a  receipt  from  fabrication  or  an  issue  for  fab- 
rication. 

Transfers  being  merely  the  dealings  of  an  agent  with  himself,  their  character  is 
shown  by  the  consecutive  appearance  of  two  numbers  or  letters  in  the  title  section. 
These  two  numbers  or  letters  need  not  be  the  same,  since  all  foremen  and  all  store- 
keepers are  in  their  respective  classes  as  one  man.  Transfers  may  also  be  identified  by 
having  two  punch-marks  and  two  entries  in  the  name  space.  The  word  "transfer" 
or  an  abbreviation  may  be  written  in  the  title  section,  or  a  note  to  that  effect  may  be 
put  in  the  name  section,  when  required. 

When  transfers  of  accountability  only,  involving  no  change  in  the  status  of  material, 
are  made  between  shop-orders ;  as  when  it  is  proposed  to  transfer  the  charge  from  one 
shop-order  to  another,  to  which  it  more  justly  belongs,  the  entry  is  authenticated  by 
punching  the  authority  space  only.  This  shows  that  it  is  neither  a  receipt  nor  an  issue, 
and  so  concerns  the  cost  clerk  only. 

12 


178  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

12.  Whoever  first  punches  the  face  of  a  card,  should  date  it. 
The  abstract,  voucher  and  class  spaces  are  to  be   filled  in  by 

the  stock  clerk. 

The  amount  space  is  to  be  filled  in  by  the  cost  clerk,  when 
required. 

13.  The  price  space  should  always  be  filled  when  the  price  is 
known ;  when  not  known,  a  query  (  ?)  should  so  indicate. 

Note. — When  fabrications,  the  product  of  a  shop-order,  the  cost  of  which  remains 
to  be  determined,  are  reported,  the  price  space  should  be  crossed  out.  The  cost  clerk 
credits  such  entries  to  the  order  on  which  made,  as  hereafter  explained,  \\hen  the 
job  is  done,  they  serve  to  show  what  it  has  accomplished. 

14.  The  package  and  address  spaces  in  the  stock  section  need 
not  be  filled,  except,  ist,  when  the  material  is  received  from  some 
source  other  than  that  indicated  in  the  requisition  column  on  the 
back  of  the  card  ;  2d,  when  the  material  is  issued  to  Z  ;  3d,  when, 
owing  to  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  packages  containing  material 
have  to  be  opened  before  the  bill  or  invoice  is  received.  The 
marks,  size  and  weight  of  the  package  being  at  once  recorded, 
no  questions  can  afterwards  arise. 

15.  But  one  entry  may  be  made  on  each  card. 

16.  Four,  but  not  more  than  four,  consecutive  transactions  can 
be  represented  on  the  same  card.  To  be  so  represented  they 
must  be  in  immediate  succession  in  point  of  tiine,  the  receipts  and 
issues  alternating. 

What  is  said  of  any  one  of  the  illustrations  following,  is  equally 
true  of  it,  whether  it  represents  an  independent  act,  or  is  one  of  a 
successive  series,  as  just  described. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  179 

CASES  IN  PRACTICE. 

The  material  card,  shown  full  size  in  the  illustrations  of  cases 
in  practice,  is  supposed  to  be  printed  on  manilla  paper,  weighing 
about  5  5  lbs.  per  ream,  which  is  about  stiff  enough  for  sorting.  The 
entries  in  script  type  are  supposed  to  be  made  in  pencil,  and  the 
dates  shown  in  gothic  type  to  have  been  impressed  by  the  line 
dating  stamp  referred  to,  page  92.  The  sub-script  letters  f;  s; 
s,  c  ;  c,  c  ;  lOi,  denote  that  the  corresponding  entries  were  made 
by  a  foreman,  a  storekeeper,  the  stock  clerk,  the  cost  clerk,  or 
the  chief  clerk  respectively. 

The  punch-marks  are  represented  by  the  following  symbols : 

Any  foreman,  X  5 

Any  storekeeper,  @  ; 

The  Master  Armorer,  ^  ; 

The  Ordnance  Storekeeper,  J^ ; 

The  Executive  Officer,  <4^  ; 

The  Commanding  Officer,  Q  (). 
The  punch-marks  are  only  represented  on  the  significant  side 
of  the  card,  that  is,  they  are  not  represented  as  coming  through 
it.     The  lines  showing  the  course  of  the  card  are  omitted.     See 
page  170. 

The  first  seventeen  cases  relate  principally  to  foremen,  the  re- 
mainder to  storekeepers. 


i8o  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  i. — Drawing  Material  from  Store  to  be  held  in  charge. 

Supposing  material  to  be  required  which  is  supposed  to  be 
in  store.  The  individual  making  out  the  card  —  it  need  not 
be  the  foreman — fills  in  the  "  assumed  "  space  with  the  estimated 
number  in  figures  that  are  wanted  of  the  units  (lbs.,  feet,  gallons, 
bbls.,  pieces,  etc.),  entered  in  the  unit  column  next  by.  See 
page  169.  The  price  space  need  not  be  filled  by  him,  but  under 
"  name  "  must  be  given  fully  the  kind  and  quantity  of  the  mate- 
rial wanted,  and  in  the  cost  section  under  "  charge  to "  the 
number  of  the  shop-order  on  which  it  is  to  be  used,  and  also,  if 
possible,  the  character  of  the  expenditure,  the  object  benefiting 
by  it,  and  the  special  operation  for  which  it  is  required. 

The  workman  takes  the  card  to  the  foreman,  who  after  examin- 
ing it  turns  it  over,  stamps  the  date  and  punches  it  near  the  edge 
opposite  "required  by;"  he  also  fills  in  his  part  of  the  title 
section.* 

If  he  sends  the  card  through  the  post-office,  he  then  marks  it 
to  the  storekeeper  whom  he  has  reason  to  believe  has  the  stores 
in  charge,  or  else  he  may  send  the  card  by  special  messenger  or 
simply  take  it  himself  to  the  storehouse. 

Should  the  storekeeper  have  the  twine  which  the  workman  is 
supposed  to  have  asked  for,  he  delivers  it  to  the  foreman,  punch- 
ing the  card  "issued;"  the  foreman  punches  "received"  and 
exchanges  the  card  so  punched  for  the  twine.  The  twine  is  now 
in  the  foreman's  charge,  subject  to  expenditure,  but  not  yet  ex- 
pended. See  page  175.  If  the  twine  is  accounted  for  by  the 
pound  instead  of  by  the  ball,  the  storekeeper,  before  issuing  it, 
changes  the  quantity  and  unit  to  correspond. 

After  having  filled  in  his  part  of  the  title  section  the  store- 
keeper sends  the  card  to  the  stock  clerk. 

The  latter  indicates  in  the  title  section  to  what  abstracts  and 
vouchers  each  entry  belongs  and  also  designates  the  class  and 
condition  of  the  material  when  necessary.     He  then  credits  the 

*  Instead  of  punching  out  "  required  by  "  the  foreman  may  simply  punch  "  received  " 
(in  advance),  and  send  the  card  for  the  stores.     Many  such  short  cuts  are  possible. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


i8i 


CASE    I. 
Drawing  Material  from  Store  to  be  held  in  Charge. 


Frankford  Arsenal, 
•Receipts  and  issues  from,  '^^  (/.)       to     ^.(f-)      to 


Frankford  Arsenal, .....'^.A.''...^.'^..!^^^ (/.) 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


6  (s.c.)      I      ^(s.c.) 


VOUCHER, 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit 

Assumed. 


^0  (/.) 


/•atu 


Actual. 


5  (s.) 


/U 


Price  per  unit. 

AMOUNT. 

\75{c.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


^tVl7l6  {/.) 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


S/3 


or 


Ol^ject. 


N. 


^53 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


Otject. 


KIND. 


NO. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHOR ITY  , 


N. 


l82 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


CO 

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O 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  183 

store  account  and  charges  the  current  service  account  with  the 
quantity  issued,  stamps  the  card  "  entered,"  and  marks  it  to  the 
cost  clerk. 

The  latter  charges  the  value  of  the  material  to  213,  and  files 
the  card  away  as  hereafter  described. 


i84  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  2. — Procuring  Material  from  the  Outside  World  to  be  held 
in  Charge. 

If  the  material  required  from  store  cannot  be  supplied  thence 
(see  case  i),  the  storekeeper  marks  or  sends  the  card  back 
to  the  foreman  with  a  proper  explanation.  The  latter  replaces 
W  by  Z  in  the  requisition  head  line,  marks  the  card  to  the  Master 
Armorer  and  throws  it  into  his  own  mail  box.  His  responsibility- 
is  at  an  end ;  he  has  asked  properly  for  what  he  wants ;  he  has 
set  in  motion  a  ball  which  will  continue  to  be  in  somebody's  way 
until  it  is  finally  disposed  of. 

(The  foreman  would  pursue  the  same  course  in  requiring 
directly  for  material  which  he  knew  was  not  in  store.) 

The  Master  Armorer  punches  out  "  M.  A.,"  dates  the  card  and 
sends  it  marked  to  the  Executive  Officer,  who  sends  it  punched 
and  dated  to  the  Commanding  Officer.  Should  the  latter  disap- 
prove of  the  purchase,  he  either  returns  the  card  disapproved,  or 
lays  it  by  for  future  action,  awaiting  explanations,  funds,  etc.  In 
any  case,  his  deliberation  on  this  subject  does  not  lead  to  delay 
in  other  things  concerning  which  prompt  action  may  be  desired. 

The  Commanding  Officer,  after  indicating  his  approval  to  the 
purchasing  clerk,  has  the  cards  brought  to  him  accompanied  by 
the  purchasing  order.  After  comparing  he  punches  out  "  C.  O." 
and  indicates  below  who  is  to  inspect  and  receive  the  material 
when  it  arrives. 

(This  need  not  be  a  storekeeper;  it  may,  and  in  many  cases 
hould  be,  the  foreman  who  originally  punched  the  card.  The 
"  C.  O."  also  indicates  from  what  appropriation  the  purchase  is 
to  be  made.) 

The  card  then  goes  to  one  clerk,  preferably  the  stock  clerk,  to 
whom  incoming  invoices  and  teamsters  with  supplies  are  always 
directed.  He  holds  it  till  the  material  arrives.  When  it  has 
come  he  gets  the  bill  or  invoice  from  the  teamster,  unless  it  has 
preceded  the  stores  by  mail;  gives  it  a  serial  number  with  the 
numbering  stamp  (page  92);  changes  the  unit  on  the  card  to 
agree  with  the  official  nomenclature  or  with  the  bill ;  inserts  the 
price  per  unit,  and  the  abstract  and  class  designations  and  the 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


'85 


CASE   II. 
Drawing  Material  from  Outside  the  Arsenal  to  be  held  in  Charge. 

Frankford  Arsenal,  „J^ AY  24  |883     (/,) 
Receipts  and  issues  from,      2£.(/.)     to     4  (/.)      to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


VOUCHER, 


QUANTITY. 


^(..r.) 


'f'f3{s.c. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


/k>*. 


Actual 
iO{f.) 


Price  per  unit. 

\-S5  {s.c.) 
AMOUNT. 

/4  O0\e.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

{/.  corrected dy  s.c.) 

Cia<^   ca<fi    {s.c.) 

Is    huce^  vac/,  vu)^^^ 
4o/e.j)     (/.) 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


o. 


Object. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O.        O 


Object. 


N. 


KIND. 


NO 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


CO 


i86 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM, 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  187 

voucher  number;  keeps  the  bill,  and  sends  the  teamster  with  the 
card  to  the  designated  receiver,  whose  orders  are  specific  to  re- 
ceive no  goods  without  a  corresponding  card. 

Note. — In  case  the  bill  is  received  by  mail  before  the  stores  arrive,  the  stock  clerk 
may  readily  make  many  of  the  changes  beforehand.  By  changing  the  names  and  units 
to  a  uniform  nomenclature,  the  stock  clerk  prevents  the  appearance  on  the  return  of 
such  stores  as  oil  by  the  gallon,  case,  pound,  barrel,  etc.;  all  requiring  separate  head- 
ings for  essentially  the  same  thing. 

The  receiver  inspects  the  stores  for  quantity  and  quality,  and 
enters  under  "  actual "  the  quantity  actually  received  in  good 
order  of  the  units  indicated  by  the  stock  clerk.  Thus  the  fore- 
man has  asked  for  "10  pieces  of  brass  castings  from  patterns 
furnished."  They  may  be  billed  by  the  seller  and  noted  by  the 
stock  clerk  as  "  50  lbs.  cast  brass."  The  receiver  and  inspector 
may  find  two  of  them  bad,  in  which  case  he  will  receipt  for,  say, 
40  lbs.,  explaining  the  difference  on  the  face  of  the  card  if  there 
is  room  for  his  remark. 

It  now  remains  for  the  foreman  to  authenticate  the  record; 
this  he  does  by  punching  in  the  stock  section  "  received." 

He  thereby  charges  himself  with  the  quantity,  and  the  order 
with  the  value  of  the  material,  until  it  is  disposed  of  by  actual  ex- 
penditure.    See  case  3. 

The  illustration  "applies  to  the  procuring  of  such  bulky  stores 
as  lumber,  coal,  leather,  etc.,  of  which  every  foreman  wants  a 
supply  for  general  purposes  under  his  immediate  control.  Future 
expenditures  from  this  supply  must  be  credited  to  the  order  to 
which  it  is  now  charged. 

To  enable  these  charges  to  be  made,  the  foreman  marks  the 
card  to  the  cost  clerk,  who  charges  214  with  the  material  at  the 
price  named,  $14.00,  and  forwards  the  card  to  the  stock  clerk, 
who  takes  up  40  lbs.  of  cast  brass  on  the  debit  side  of  his  current 
service  journal  as  having  been  received  by  purchase  (abstract  C). 


i88  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  3. — Procuring  Material  to  be  expended  on  Arrival. 

Should  the  foreman  wish  to  expend  the  stores  immediately 
on  their  arrival,  he  follows  precisely  the  same  course,  but  in 
addition  punches  "  issued."  The  stock  clerk  then  makes  two 
entries  in  the  current  service  column  of  the  journal.  One  having  a 
numbered  and  the  other  a  lettered  abstract  title,  they  balance  and 
record  the  transaction.     See  pages  45,  244. 

As  the  card  itself  is  the  only  voucher  for  abstract  5,  no  voucher 
number  is  given  in  the  title  section  under  the  designation  of  this 
abstract;  the  serial  number  which  the  card  receives  from  the 
stock  clerk  (page  248)  is  sufficient. 

The  foreman  having  asked  for  the  lumber  in  lineal  feet,  his 
requisition  is  corrected  by  the  stock  clerk  to  agree  with  the 
established  nomenclature  and  unit  of  measurement.  This  is  only 
given  as  an  illustration ;  it  is  not  supposed  that  the  stock  clerk 
will  have  to  correct  every  departure  from  the  official  nomenclat- 
ure, nor  to  supply  on  every  card  the  designation  of  the  class. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


189 


CASE  III. 
Drawing  Material  from  Outside  the  Arsenal  to  be  Expended  on  Arrival. 


Frankford  Arsenau "^fX..!..^^.^? (f.) 

Receipts  and  issues  from,  Q&  (/.)       to   /a/(.(/.)    to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


VOUCHER, 


^r 


s.c.) 


//i.Cj.^.; 


5. 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


^,'fOO 


Ad) 


Actual. 


^,500 


Aif-) 


Price  per  unit. 

I  S(s.c.) 

AMOUNT. 

30  I  00(c.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


(I./)   {2.  s.c.) 


{s.c) 


CHARGE  TO 


S-0. 


^96 


^r 


Olyect. 


N. 


S-O. 


CREDITJTO 
Object. 


N. 


p  ;  KIND. 

A 


CI  NO. 
K 


A     WEIGHT,  Lbs. 

G 


E     MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
■  BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHORITY, 


CO 


190 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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'       0" 
'if. 

Id      H 

9 

^ 

e 

u 

s 

0 

0 

0 

< 
0 

<: 

s 

u 

tn 

E 

►4 

0 
0 

in  ^ 

i  % 
<  0 

0 

< 

H 

ea 

0) 

N3W3HOH  dOHS 

0 

192  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  4. — Reporting  Fabrications  which  are  kept  in   Charge. 

Should  the  foreman  wish  to  keep  the  fabrication  in  charge, 
he  punches  "  received  "  from  "  fabrication  "  and  besides  crediting 
the  units  to  the  order  under  which  made,  must  charge  them  to 
the  order  under  which  held. 

He  fills  in  the  price  by  the  table  furnished  (page  172).  If  the 
case  is  not  covered  by  the  table,  he  leaves  it  to  the  cost  clerk  to 
determine,  or  estimates  it  as  closely  as  possible. 

This  affords  a  very  convenient  means  of  keeping  account  of 
special  tools  made  for  consumption  in  regular  work,  otherwise  a 
most  difficult  matter.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  tool  maker  com- 
pletes 4  drawing  punches,  made  under  order  No.  49.  He  has 
charged  his  labor  from  day  to  day  to  49 — T — A.  i — 321,  and  his 
material  has  been  likewise  so  charged.  Now,  when  the  tools  are 
finished  they  are  turned  into  the  tool  closet,  where  they  are  kept 
charged  at  the  list  price  to  213 — T — FA.  i — 321,  and  credited  at 
the  same  price  to  49 — T — A.  i — 321,  as  indicated  on  the  card 
made  out  at  the  time  of  their  reception  into  the  tool  closet. 
Thus,  if  the  tools  have  been  made  more  cheaply  than  was  to  be 
expected,  or  at  a  profit,  S-0.  49  gets  the  benefit  of  the  difference, 
or  the  reverse  if  luck  has  been  bad.  The  burden  is  automatically 
distributed. 

Further  expenditure  of  these  tools  must  be  reported  as  issues, 
punched  accordingly,  and  charged  to  the  special  order  on  which 
employed.  For  the  course  to  be  followed  when  they  are  received 
back  again  into  the  tool  closet,  see  case  12. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS, 


'93 


CASE  IV. 
Fabrication  Reported  and  kept  in  Charge. 


Frankford  Arsenal,     MAY  24  1883     (y;^ 
Receipts  and  issues  from,    /a£.  (f.)    to     S  (/.)      to  to 


Per  ABSTRAOX, 


VOUCHER, 


Xs.c.) 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 
Qp.(j.<r.) 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


/^.(/.) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 
A3IOUNT. 


y^Kcc.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


U3 


C. 


ST. 


Object. 


^^. 


N. 


32'f 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


i9 


ST. 


Object. 


S^. 


N. 


SS'f 


KIND. 


NO 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here 


AUTH  ORITY, 


13 


194  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  5. — Reporting  Fabrications  which  are  turned  into  Store. 

Suppose  that  a  foreman  has  completed  an  order  in  whole  or 
in  part,  and  wishes  to  turn  the  product  into  store  to  offset  the  labor 
and  material  which  has  been  spent  in  its  production. 

He  fills  in  the  title  section  as  shown  in  the  example,  writes  the 
quantity  and  name  of  the  fabrication,  and  under  "  credit  to"  puts 
the  number  of  the  order  authorizing  the  expenditures  incurred. 

The  price  column  is  left  blank,  as  the  price  cannot  be  deter- 
mined until  the  order  is  complete  and  all  charges  against  it  known. 

The  foreman  then  punches  "  received,"  to  account  for  the 
appearance  of  the  material,  and  "  issued  "  to  account  for  its  dis- 
appearance from  his  charge,  and  sends  the  cards  with  the  stores 
to  the  proper  storekeeper. 

The  storekeeper  punches  "  received  "  and  returns  the  card  to 
the  foreman,  who  sends  it  to  the  cost  clerk. 

The  cost  clerk  credits  the  order  with  units  made,  only,  and 
sends  the  card  to  the  stock  clerk. 

The  stock  clerk  makes  three  entries  on  the  journal,  each  having 
a  different  abstract  title ;  two  of  the  entries  being  on  the  C.  S. 
side  and  one  on  the  other.  The  responsibility  for  the  stores  rests 
with  the  store  return. 

Turning  Scrap  into  Store. 

This  follows  the  case  just  described,  except  that  the  list  price 
of  the  scrap  should  be  given.  This  case  is  more  important  than 
it  may  at  first  seem,  as  it  permits  balancing  the  amount  of  mate- 
rial received  with  that  charged  and  expended  and  that  remaining 
on  hand. 

In  cartridge  making,  one-third  of  the  sheet  metal  is  turned 
into  scrap,  of  which  a  definite  account  should  be  kept,  both  in 
pounds  and  in  dollars  and  cents.  Otherwise,  if  the  scrap  is  re- 
turned to  the  manufacturers  at  a  reduced  price,  and  no  other 
record  of  the  transaction  but  the  credit  entry  on  the  bill  be  pre- 
served, we  shall  seem  to  have  been  using  in  pounds,  one-half 
more  copper  than  was  actually  consumed. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


195 


CASE  V. 
Fabrication  Reported  and  Tiir7ied  into  Store. 


OPT 

Frankford  Arsenal,  ...yr". 

Receipts  and  issues  from,  ^^(y.)        io     A.(f-)    to    ty^b.{f.)     to 


Frankford  Arsenal,  ....OpT..?^..!^?^ ^y^ 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


VOUCHER, 


^J.(s.c.)     I       6.{s.c.). 


^.(s.c.) 


aUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


'f 0,0 00 


/«.(-/; 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 

X  I    (/•) 

AMOUNT. 

30  \00(c.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


^>t7i&  cazhulae<^.{j') 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


O. 


Object. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


^ 


Object. 


N. 


NO. 


p      KIND. 

A 
C 
K 
A 
G 
E 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITV  , 


196  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  6. — Reporting  Fabrication  of  Componetits  taken  from  one 
Order  to  complete  another. 

Suppose  that  we  are  making  cartridges  under  No.  107,  and 
an  order,  No.  ^Gj,  comes  to  issue  1,000  bullets  of  the  same 
kind  that  we  are  making.  We  have  a  supply  on  hand,  made 
under  No.  107,  which  is  more  than  is  required  for  immediate 
wants.  So  we  do  not  go  to  making  bullets  specially  for  No.  'jG'j, 
but  borrow  from  No.  107  the  1,000  wanted,  crediting  No.  107, 
and  charging  No.  'jG'j  with  the  nearest  approximation  to  their 
actual  value. 

1,000  more  bullets  will  be  required  for  No.  107,  but  these  being 
made  with  a  flying  start,  will  be  more  economically  made  than  if 
the  machinery  of  record,  like  that  of  manufacture,  had  been 
stopped  and  set  to  work  again  for  their  special  benefit. 

For  the  further  treatment  of  this  card,  see  case  5  or  case  11. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


197 


CASE  VI. 
Reporting  Fabrication  of  Components  taken  from  o?ie  Order  to  fih  atiother. 


Frankkord  Arsenal,     pCT  24  1883     (-y;j 
Receipts  and  issues  from,    /a^.  (/.)    to     ^(f.)      to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


VOUCHER, 


l{s.c.) 


T 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


4,000 


A(/) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 

\.006{f.) 
AMOUNT. 

6   \00AC.r.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


viuuU,  500  qi. 

0-) 


CHARGE  TO 

CREDIT  TO 

S-O. 

0. 

Object. 

N. 

S-O. 

C. 

Object. 

N. 

767 

"W. 

s^. 

34 

^5S 

407 

^5r 

S^. 

34 

^5S 

KIND. 


NO. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REC'D       Foremen  punch  here.        X 
BY 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  pimch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


198  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  7. — Reporting  Fabrication  of  Plant  remaining  on  Hand 
after  Completion  of  Order. 

In  the  execution  of  an  order,  it  is  of  necessity  that  all  expen- 
ditures shall  be  charged  to  the  order  by  authority  of  which 
they  were  incurred.  But,  as  stated  page  99,  there  are  many  nec- 
essary charges  for  work  which  is  not  only  useful  in  the  preparation 
of  the  order,  but  which  has  a  contingent  value  for  future  manu- 
factures of  the  same  kind.  Such  are  charges  for  drawings, 
patterns,  special  tools,  etc.,  known  generally  herein  as  plant. 

When  an  order  is  completed,  these  remainders  should  be  ap- 
praised, and  cards  made  out,  charging  them  at  their  contingent 
value  to  the  most  probable  standing  order,  and  crediting  them  on 
the  same  card  to  the  order  under  which  made.  The  facilities  of 
the  workshop  are  thereby  charged  with  the  fair  cost  of  what 
increases  their  future  usefulness,  and  the  order  is  correspondingly 
relieved. 

The  card  should  be  punched  "  received"  as  by  "  fabrication." 

Many  special  orders  would  receive  credit  only  for  the  scrap 
value  of  the  patterns  and  tools ;  in  some  cases  these  would  have 
no  value.  Too  great  values  so  charged  would  be  corrected  by 
re-appraisement  on  the  inventory. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


199 


CASE  VII. 
Reporting  Fabncaiion  of  riant  remainitig  on  hand  after  completion  of  Order. 


Frankkord  Arsenal,  ....9.P.T...?^..I^?3..  ^y^^ 
Receipts  and  issues  from,  /^/Ify. J         to      S.(f-)    to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 

^.(s.c.) 

VOUCHER, 

QUANTITY.          ^7'';^ 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


/ 

Actual 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


<tet  (/. )  I'    hattetnd- ^ct  dawt  dte/i^,  S  ht€ce<S: 


Price  per  unit. 
I  50{f.) 

AMOUNT. 

\50(c.c.) 


s-o. 


CHARGE  TO 
O.  Object. 


^. 


N. 


S-O. 


^96 


CREDIT  TO 


Object. 


^. 


N. 


NO. 


p     KIND. 

A 

{) 
K 
A 
G 
E 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here.        X 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
By 


I   Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHOR  ITY  , 


200  FROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  8. — Turning  Surplus  Material  into  Store. 

The  proposed  system  permits  such  free  access  to  the  store- 
houses by  the  foremen,  that  they  will  not  be  tempted  to  carry 
large  stocks  of  material  for  their  daily  wants ;  particularly 
since  by  so  doing  they  are  compelled  to  keep  track  of  the  order 
under  which  the  stores  are  held,  and  to  which  they  are  to  be 
credited  when  consumed. 

So  the  tendency  will  be,  not  only  to  avoid  such  accumulations, 
but  to  get  rid  of  them  when  they  occur,  by  turning  the  surplus 
into  store  for  the  general  use  of  the  post. 

The  card  shows  how  this  may  be  done. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


20Z 


CASE  VIII. 
Returning  Surplus  Material  to  Store. 


Frankford  Arsenal,     9.9.T-. ?^.^^^- -■  ^f-^ 
Receipts  and  issues  .rom,    6.{f-)    to      '^/f^.(f.)      to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT. 


VOUCHER, 


6.{s-c.) 


S.is.c.) 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


40 


/U{f.) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 

/  I  50{f.) 
AMOUNT. 


45 


OOkc.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


vetTntiion 


tlco 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


O. 


Object. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


Object. 


N. 


'^. 


KIND. 


NO 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REC'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


202  PRC POSED  SYSTEM. 

Cases  9  and  10. — Expending  Material  in   Charge. 

When  a  foreman  wishes  to  use  some  of  the  material  in  his 
charge,  he  makes  out  a  card  charging  it  to  the  order  on  which 
consumed,  and  crediting  it  to  that  under  which  held ;  punches 
"  issued,"  and  sends  it  to  the  cost  clerk. 

For  example,  in  recording  consumption  of  coal  held,  say,  for 
power,  and  charged  under  order  No.  216,  daily  reports  should 
be  made  of  the  quantity  consumed,  as  follows : 

Dr.  Cr. 

Heating 217  216. 

Lighting ^ 219  216. 

Melting.. 213  W;  A.  31;   802     216. 

Power* _ 216  216, 

In  case  9,  the  blacksmith  has  used  among  other  items  during 
the  day,  2  lbs.  of  steel  upon  the  job  specified.  He  keeps  an 
account  on  separate  cards  of  each  draft  so  made  on  his  stock  of 
iron,  steel,  etc.,  and  hands  the  cards  in  to  the  foreman  at  the  end 
of  the  day. 

The  foreman  or  the  blacksmith  knows  that  all  the  stock  of 
metal  in  his  charge  was  procured  for  the  general  purposes  of  the 
shops,  and  so  is  charged  to  shop-order  No.  214.  He  therefore 
marks  the  issue  to  the  credit  of  that  order,  and  charges  it  to  the 
job  on  which  it  was  actually  employed  ;  punches  "  issued  "  and 
sends  the  card  to  the  cost  clerk.  The  latter  makes  the  proper 
Dr.  and  Cr.  entries  and  sends  the  card  to  the  stock  clerk,  who 
credits  the  C.  S.  return  with  the  2  lbs.  of  steel  issued. 

*  Being  already  once  charged  to  power,  the  effect  will  be  to  charge  the  expenditure 
only  once,  though  the  entry  will  be  treated  as  all  others  of  the  same  kind. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


203 


CASE  IX. 
Expending  Material  in  Charge. 


Frankford  Arsenal,  .....9.9.T....?'*-..I??5.(7.; 
Receipts  and  issues  from,    4  (f.)        to     /ao.(f-)    to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


VOUCHER, 


5Xs.c.) 


UUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


/L.(f-) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 
\M{f.) 

AMOUNT. 

UOic.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Jieet,  G^oMon  <#  cnoice,  va^  //^   touncC, 

toi  t^tatvina  huncn.  {/. ) 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


J-9 


^ 


Ol\ject. 


^. 


N. 


S-O. 


CREDIT  TO 
Otgect. 


^#r 


N. 


NO. 


p     KINO. 

A 

C 
K 

^     WEIGHT,  Lbs. 

G 

E 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REOD 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED     Foremen  punch  here.         X 
BY 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


204  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Expending  Material  in  Charge — continued. 

Case  10  represents  the  expenditure  of  cartridge  tools  from  the 
stock  required  to  be  kept  on  hand  in  the  tool  closet,  under  the 
general  cartridge  order  No.  213,  for  the  special  purpose  required 
by  order  No.  107. 

In  the  same  way,  after  the  completion  of  a  machine,  building 
or  any  other  job,  in  taking  a  final  view  of  it,  before  reporting  it 
done,  any  little  things  which  may  have  escaped  record  from 
having  been  picked  up  about  the  shop,  from  the  scrap  boxes, 
etc.,  should  be  reported  in  the  same  way.  They  may  have  to  be 
bought  for  the  next  job  of  the  kind,  when  the  record  will  be  use- 
ful, and  they  will  relieve  the  proper  standing  order  of  just  so 
much  of  its  undistributed  burden. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


J05 


CASE  X. 
Expending  Material  in  Charge, 


Frankforu  Arsenal,      FEB  17  1883     rf\ 

Receipts  and  issues  from,    S.(f-)    to      /a^.{f-)      to 

to 

Per  ABSTRACT, 

5Xs-c.) 

VOUCHER, 

QUANTITY. 

Class. 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No. 

Assum 

5 
Actu 

Price  pei 

AMOI 

S 

Unit. 

ed. 

AC/^) 

il. 

unit. 
50{f.) 

FNT. 
50KC.C.') 

N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

CHARGE  TO 

CREDIT  TO                       1 

S-O. 

C.              Object 

N. 

S-O. 

0. 

Object. 

N. 

407 

^ 

S^. 

/ 

324 

S43 

ST. 

Sf.S^. 

/ 

324 

P 

A 
C 
K 
A 
G 
E 

KIND. 

Received  from,  or  sent  to 

NO 

WEIGHT,  Lbs. 

MEASURE,  Ft. 

REO'D 
BY 

Foremen  punch  here. 
Storekeepers  punch  here. 

ISSUED 
BY 

foremen  punch  here.        X 

Storekeepers  punch  here. 

AUTH  ORITY, 

2o6  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  i  i  . — Direct  Issue  to  Z. 

It  may  suit  the  Commanding  Officer  to  save  time  by  direct- 
ing the  foreman  making  certain  stores  to  issue  them  directly 
after  completion :  in  fact  as  one  would  do  in  a  small  shop. 
When  one  thinks  of  how  often  stores  take  their  departure 
from  the  carpenter  shop,  where  they  are  packed,  it  will  be  seen 
how  good  a  thing  it  may  be  to  require  the  master  carpenter  to 
certify  to  the  packing.  When  the  box  is  ready  for  sealing,  it  is 
often  very  difficult  to  tell  whether  all  the  components  of  a  machine, 
etc.,  are  present,  so  much  are  they  concealed  by  their  separation 
and  by  the  braces,  etc.,  surrounding  them. 

In  this  case  the  Executive  Officer  should  sign  the  invoices.  The 
material  comes  from  him,  and  there  is  no  reason  in  the  nature  of 
things  why  they  should  have  to  pass  through  the  storehouse  and 
the  O.  S.  K.     Case  6  might  properly  be  so  treated. 

This  form  should  be  used  in  returning  scrap  copper  to  the 
manufacturer  directly  from  the  shops,  page  194.  This  enables 
such  a  transaction  to  be  certainly  done  and  definitely  recorded. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


207 


CASE  XI. 
Issuing  Material  to  Outer  World  by  Foreman. 


FRANKKORn    Ar-^FNAT f  .^^..^TI^^S 

■(/•) 

Receipts  and  issues  from, /&/(/; ^        io    Q£>.(f-)    to 

to 

Per  ABSTRACT, 

0J.{s.c.) 

/  (s.c.) 

VOUCHER, 

73  {s.c.) 

QUANTITY. 

Cl.\ss. 
/(s.c.) 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No. 

Assum 

/ 

Actu 
Price  pel 

X 
AMOl 

Unit. 

ed. 

A(/) 

x\. 

■  unit. 

(/) 

INT. 

N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

1                     CHARGE  TO 

CREDIT  TO                         1 

S-O. 

C 

'. 

Object. 

N. 

S-O. 

0. 

Olyect. 

N. 

704. 

'^. 

P 

A 
C 
K 
A 
G 
E 

KIND.         ^oa>. 

Received  from,  or  sent  to 

NO.                   / 

WEIGHT,  Lbs.      $ 

MEASURE,  Ft.    /,<^ 

REO'D 

1       BY 

1 

Foremen  punch  here.        X 

ISSUED 
BY 

Foremen  punch  here.         X 

Storekeepers  punch  here. 

Storekeepers  punch  here. 

AUTHORITY,                       C  0 

2o8  PROPOSED  SYSTEAf. 

Case  12. — Material  found  or  taken  up. 

For  material  actually  found  in  excess  of  the  quantity  called  for 
by  the  return  no  special  explanation  seems  necessary ;  but  the 
corresponding  abstract,  F,  covers  other  cases  which  in  a  closely 
administered  shop  would  be  more  frequently  found. 

Suppose  that  timber  is  cut  on  the  military  reservation ;  that 
stone  is  quarried  on  it ;  or  that,  in  closing  an  order,  tools  which 
have  once  been  issued  and  charged  to  it  are  returned  to  the  tool 
closet.  Thus,  in  the  example,  the  dies  were  charged  to  No,  107 
when  they  were  first  issued,  and  now,  at  the  end  of  the  job,  as 
they  are  still  serviceable,  they  are  to  be  returned  to  the  closet  to 
be  held  under  the  standing  shop-order  No.  213,  subject  to  such 
further  service  as  may  be  required  of  them. 

When  the  dies  were  originally  issued  for  fabrication,  the  transac- 
tion being  one  between  foremen,  they  were  not  receipted  for  by  the 
foreman  of  the  loading  shop ;  he  cannot  therefore  re-issue  them 
to  the  keeper  of  the  tool  closet,  202  ;  consequently  only  202 
punches  the  card,  and  he  punches  "  received." 

The  stock  clerk  may  ask,  "  How  received  ?  by  transfer,  by  fabri- 
cation, or  found  on  the  post?" 

They  were  not  received  by  transfer,  since  that  involves  a  double 
heading  and  a  double  punching.  Not  by  fabrication,  since  that 
would  be  indicated  in  the  title,  as  would  be  the  case  if  they  had 
come  from  Z.  They  were  received  by  discovery ;  that  is,  that 
having  been  once  issued  to  be  consumed  in  manufacture  and  so 
accounted  for,  their  present  appearance  is  a  sort  of  surprise, 
which  abstract  F  is  intended  to  include.  They  increase  the  stock 
of  bullet  dies  by  ten  pair,  so  that  future  issues  of  them  must 
follow  the  regular  course. 

They  should  be  taken  up  at  their  full  value,  no  discrimination 
being  possible  between  new  tools  and  old  ones  only  partly  worn, 
unless  the  list  of  names  on  the  property  papers  be  unduly  in- 
creased. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 

CASE  XII. 
Taking  up  Afatcrial  Found  in  Excess. 


209 


FuANKroRD  Arsenal, r..^.?...'!.7..^.?.*.?__C/J 

Receipts  and  issues  from,    3  (/.)    to  to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


VOUCHER, 


^(j.^.; 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


/<? 


/«.(7J 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 

^  I  OOif.) 
AMOUNT. 

00\c.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 
^jiuiet  (^te^,  tetutnea  io  ioot  cto^tei. 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


^ 


Object. 


N. 


S^. 


J/ 


343 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


407 


Object. 


^. 


S^. 


3/ 


N. 


?/J 


NO. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REC'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


2IO  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  i  3 . — Dropping  Material. 

The  Commanding  Officer  of  an  arsenal  is  authorized  to  drop 
by  his  own  act,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Chief  of  Ordnance, 
such  worn-out  and  unserviceable  material  as  he  does  not  wish  to 
keep  on  his  return  of  stores  in  current  service.  See  abstract  4, 
page  45- 

If  the  stores  are  absolutely  without  value,  the  accompanying 
case  will  serve;  otherwise  the  form  for  transfers,  case  14,  should 
be  used. 

Such  transactions  may  thus  be  made  definitely  as  positive  and 
distinct  acts  of  the  Commanding  Officer's  agents,  the  property 
dropped  being  actually  in  view  at  the  time.  It  seems  unneces- 
sary to  dwell  on  the  difference  between  such  a  course  and  the 
common  one  of  having  the  dropping  done  by  memory  alone,  or 
in  the  judgment  of  a  clerk  who  wishes  to  clear  off  his  return. 

The  Commanding  Officer  may  thus  have  the  practical  exami- 
nation of  the  stores  made  by  his  agents,  and  merely  ratify  their 
acts  in  detail  by  his  punch-mark.  Cards  so  punched  have  only 
to  be  sorted  into  classes-and  copied  to  form  abstract  4. 

In  the  case  shown,  the  couplings  should  in  reality  be  taken  up 
by  transfer  as  scrap  brass  and  credited  to  215  at  their  scrap  value. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


2IX 


CASE  XI 1 1. 

Dropping  Unsen'iceablc  Material. 


Frankford  Arsenal 
Receipts  and  issues  from,     7(f.)        io     Q&Xf-)    to 


Frankford  Arsenal, ...„0.?....t7..l??.?. (J.) 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


VOUCHER, 


A.(s.c.) 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 
/(s.c.) 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


Actual. 
500 


C/ect  7id 
{/■) 


A 

{s.c.) 
Price  per  unit. 

AMOUNT. 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 
3  in.  /iif  noiie,  tvoin,  ciU/  aichhea  «<*  woitmMii: 


S-O. 


CHARGE  TO 


01:tJ3ct. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


Ol^tject. 


N. 


KIND. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


RE  CD 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHOR  ITY, 


C  0 


212  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  14. — Transfers  betzueen  Classes. 

It  may  happen  that  by  mistake  stores  have  been  misnamed  or 
misclassed,  or  their  condition  may  have  been  so  altered  by  use 
or  repair  as  to  make  them  belong  to  another  class.  A  card 
might  be  made,  embracing  both  items,  with  a  note  to  show  which 
was  the  class  or  condition  passed  out  of,  and  which  into.  It 
would  probably  be  better,  though,  to  have  a  separate  card  for 
each  entry. 

Such  cases  will  be  more  rare  with  material  in  current  service 
than  with  that  in  store.  The  former  condition  implies  a  neces- 
sary deterioration  from  use,  which  does  not  require  the  explana- 
tion exacted  in  the  latter  case. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


CASE  XIV. 
Transfening  Material  behveeii  Classes. 


Frankkoku  Arsenal, .^E?...1I.J.?.?.? if-) 

Receipts  and  issues  from,    ^.(J.)    to  <^.(/.)      to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 

Ms.c.) 

^.(s.c.) 

VOUCHER, 

QUANTITY. 

Class. 

NAME. 

Condition. 
tfetv.    u/nd-. 

No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


/^.(/■) 


Actual. 


6,000 


/L. 


Price  per  unit. 

I  yiks.c.) 

AMOUNT. 

450      Ks.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


S'tn.    ^outmvuzd. 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


(/•) 


^>r 


Object, 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


3^7 


O. 


0". 


Object. 


N. 


NO. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


kJ  ^and/(S^.{f• 


REC'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


CO 


214 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Case  15. —  Transferring  Material  between  Shop-Orders. 

It  may  be  desirable  to  transfer  the  responsibility  for  material 
held  under  one  shop-order  to  another  shop-order,  as  in  correct- 
ing mistakes,  in  readjusting  responsibilities  under  different  shop- 
orders,  or  in  settling  up  at  the  completion  of  an  order  for  the 
material  remaining  on  hand.  In  such  cases  we  would  only  punch 
"  authority,"  as  the  transaction  is  neither  a  receipt  nor  an  issue. 

The  following  tabular  statement  shows  how  such  cases  may 
arise,  and  also  throws  light  on  some  of  the  preliminary  processes. 

We  are  supposed  to  be  the  master  painter,  whose  stock  of  raw 
material  is  held  under  the  general  or  standing  shop-order  No.  214, 
and  896  is  a  special  order  for  which  he  thinks  that  he  will  require 
ten  pounds  of  paint,  which  he  accordingly  fabricates.  He  actually 
finds  that  he  only  needs  three  pounds  of  it,  however,  and  to 
avoid  charging  the  job  with  the  excess,  he  finally  transfers'  the 
accountability  for  the  balance  not  required  to  the  standing  order 
under  which  his  stock  of  paints  is  held.  By  following  the  gen- 
eral rule  to  credit  all  issues  to  the  order  under  which  the  material 
has  been  held,  even  when  it  is  the  same  order  on  which  it  is  to 
be  used,  we  come  out  right,  for  we  see  that  the  account  of  No. 
896  for  mixed  paints  stands  as  follows.      See  also  case  10: 


Date. 


Jan.  I,  '79. 


Aug.  4, '79. 


<<  << 


Au.  20,  '79. 


Au.  30,  '79, 


Entry  to  be  made  to  be  punched  under  the 
head  of — 


Authority. 


7  lbs.  mixed 
paint  . . . 


Received. 


10  lbs.  Van- 
dyke brown 

50  galls.  B. 
oil 


10  lbs.  miX' 
ed  paint. . . 


Issued. 


2   lbs.   V. 

brown  .. . . 
I  yi  galls.  B. 

oil 


3  lbs.  mixed 
j)aint 


Charge 


Order 

No. 


214 
214 
896 
896 
896 

896 

214 


Credit 
to 


Order 

No. 


214 
214 

896 
896 


Remarks. 


(  Original    pur- 
(    chase  .. ..  i,  2. 

f  Used  in  mixing 
i    paint 3,4. 

Fabricated,  in 
charge 5 

Used     on     boat 
house 6 

Balance  not  used, 
Case  XV 7 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


215 


CASE  XV. 
Transferring  Material  beiween  Shop-  Orders. 


Receipts  and  issues  from, 


FRANK.ORD  Arsenal,...  AUG  .30  A879....(/:; 


Per  ABSTRACT, 

VOUCHER, 

1 

aUANTlTY. 

Class. 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


Actual. 


N.  B.      Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


Price  per  unit. 

I  /^(/) 
AMOUNT. 


S-O. 


(/■) 


CHARGE  TO 
Object. 


N. 


S-O. 


^^X 
(/•) 


CREDIT  TO^ 
Object. 


9r. 


N. 


p      KIND. 

Ai 

C  I  NO. 

K 
A 
G 

K 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  licrc. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


A  UTH  ORITY, 


2i6  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  every  pot  of  paint  will  take  so 
much  book-keeping;  this  illustration  is  carried  purposely  to 
extremes,  so  as  to  show  how  perfect  an  opportunity  is  offered 
for  thoroughly  recording  all  such  transactions,  whatever  may  be 
the  amounts  concerned. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  217 

Case  16. — Making  Inventory. 

Blank  cards  are  distributed  in  sufficient  numbers  to  those  about 
to  take  the  inventory. 

They  each  take  a  floor,  room  or  building,  etc.,  and  enter  on 
the  cards  the  separate  items  they  find,  consoHdating  entries  of  the 
same  class  as  far  as  possible.  Thus,  all  the  scrap  brass  on  one 
floor  or  room  should  go,  if  possible,  on  one  card  ;  all  draw  presses 
of  the  same  value  on  another,  etc. 

The  estimated  value  should  be  entered  in  the  price  space,  and 
the  order  under  which  the  stores  have  been  held  should  receive 
both  a  Dr.  and  a  Cr.  entry  as  to  the  operation  on  which  the 
machine  is  employed.  Thus  double-action  presses  would  be  both 
Dr.  and  Cr.  to  No.  2 1 3  P. ;   A.  i  ;   45  i . 

As  the  transaction  represents  no  change  of  status,  only  the 
authority  space  should  be  punched. 

The  cost  clerk  credits  this  year's  shop-orders  and  debits  next 
year's,  with  the  aggregate  value  ;  while  the  stock  clerk  looks  only 
after  the  units  reported,  as  a  means  of  checking  his  balance  on 
the  current  service  side  of  the  ledger. 

Taking  in  illustration  shop-order  No,  14,  Benicia  Arsenal 
schedule,  page  144,  this  course  would  result  as  follows: 

To  the  value  given  by  the  last  inventory  to  the  machinery  on 
hand,  we  add  all  expenses  since  charged  to  No.  14  P.  and  deduct 
the  estimated  value  of  the  machinery  as  determined  by  the  present 
appraisal. 

The  remainder  represents  the  deterioration.  To  this  should  be 
added  the  sum  of  the  charges  under  No.  14  W.,  and  the  sum  so 
determined  will  be  the  total  running  expenses  on  machinery  since 
the  last  inventory. 

The  same  being  determined  for  the  other  standing  orders 
separately,  they  may  be  either  lumped  in  one  general  miscella- 
neous expense  account,  or  better,  distributed  where  they  most 
probably  belong. 

Thus  it  would  be  manifestly  wrong  to  make  the  same  additional 
charge  to  cover  the  miscellaneous  expenses  of  the  saddler  shop  or 
of  the  paint  shop,  where  material  is  used  net,  and  where  power  is 


2i8  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

scarcely  required,  as  it  would  to  cover  those  of  the  foundry, 
machine  shop  or  cartridge  factory,  where  the  expenses  for  power, 
attendance  and  general  waste  are  very  great. 

The  selection  of  the  standing  orders  thus  becomes  a  matter  in 
which  judgment  can  be  shown  to  great  advantage. 

Note. — I  think  it  would  be  well  to  have,  in  addition  to  those  before  enumerated,  one 
for  each  department  of  the  arsenal.  Its  number  might  profitably  be  that  of  the  shop; 
thus  No.  I  would  be  that  of  the  office;  No.  7  of  the  outside  department,  and  so  on. 
See  pages  91,  166. 

In  estimating  the  value  of  machinery,  more  attention  should  be 
paid  to  its  future  commercial  or  earning  value  during  the  coming 
year,  than  to  its  mere  mechanical  condition.  Thus  obsolete 
machines,  which,  though  in  running  order,  could  only  be  run  at 
a  loss  when  in  competition  with  more  perfect  processes  used  else- 
where, would  properly  suffer  a  more  considerable  deterioration 
than  would  at  first  sight  seem  possible. 

In  this  way  we  would  be  distributing  our  deterioration  among 
our  expenses  from  year  to  year,  instead  of  waking  up,  as  many 
have  done,  to  find  their  assets  disappearing  as  their  disabilities 
became  pronounced. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


219 


CASE  XVI. 
Taking  Inventory. 


n^ATEi^i^Xj  o^i^^x). 

Frankford  Arsenal,     J^N  30  1883 

-(/•) 

Receipts  and  issues  from,           Inventory.          to 

to 

t-H 

Per  ABSTRACT, 

VOUCHER, 

QUANTITY. 

Class. 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No.           Unit. 

N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

Assum 

ed. 

^7 

A-r/i 

0)    S^.  fiieitdM,  com^iuii. 

Actual. 

< 

Price  per  unit. 

350            if.) 

A3IOUNT. 

5,950        Kc.c.-) 

CHARGE  TO  and 

CREDIT  TO 

S-O. 

C. 

Object. 

N. 

S-O. 

C. 

Object. 

N. 

m 

S^3 

0^. 

S^. 

/ 

i54 

0 
0 

(/•) 

P 

KIND. 

Received  from,  or  sent  to 

y\ 

C 

NO 

K 

t4 

0 

A 

WEIGHT,  Lbs. 

0 

(J 
E 

09 

MEASURE,  Ft. 

REO'D 
BY 

Foremen  punch  here. 

ISSUED 
BY 

Foremen  puiicli  liere. 

Storekeepers  punch  here. 

Storekeepers  punch  here. 

AUTH  ORITY,                        X 

- 

2  20  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  17. —  Transactiojis  betzucen  Foremen. 

Although,  as  has  been  stated,  the  scheme  proposed  does  not 
require  transactions  between  foremen  to  be  recorded,  yet  by 
taking  some  extra  trouble  this  may  readily  be  done. 

It  is  supposed  to  be  desirable  to  keep  account  of  the  valuable 
cartridge  metal  passing  between  different  shops.  According  to 
the  card,  301  credits  the  shop-order  with  the  shells  at  the  list 
price  and  punches  "Issued;"  401  punches  "Received." 

An  account  should  be  opened  with  each  foreman  handling  this 
metal,  otherwise  it  were  better  to  make  no  attempt  at  recording 
the  transfer.  Accounts  which  are  not  carried  to  the  balance  are 
a  sheer  waste  of  time. 

It  is  open  whether  to  account  for  the  metal  by  the  piece  or 
by  the  pound ;  the  latter  course  would  probably  be  the  more 
ready,  but  the  former  would  serve  to  show  the  progress  of  the 
work.  The  difference  between  the  weight  of  the  metal  originally 
drawn  and  that  in  the  finished  cartridges  should  be  accounted 
for  by  the  scrap  and  authorized  waste.  Whether  these  should 
be  accounted  for  annually  or  oftener,  would  depend  upon  cir- 
cumstances. 

In  order  to  avoid  using  the  stock  section,  thus  encumbering 
the  return  with  entries  which  necessarily  balance,  it  would  perhaps 
be  better  to  have  the  foremen  punch  in  the  L.  S.  space  to  the 
right  and  left  respectively. 

The  same  form  would  serve  at  the  National  Armory  in  accom- 
panying work  through  the  different  departments. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


CASE  XVI  I. 
Transferring  Material  between  Foremen. 


Frankkord  Arsenal, fl?...?..T„l?.?A...(/.; 

Receipts  and  issues  from,      3{f.)         io        ^(f-)    to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 

VOUCHER,                          1 

aUANTITY. 

Class. 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


A    ^6.{/.) 
Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 
AMOUXT. 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 
J^rui/icctec/  aAe//,  49  S^ .  420. 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


Object. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


C. 


Olgect. 


N. 


KIND. 


P 

A 

C 
K 

^  I  WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


E     MEASURE,  Ft. 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here.         X  (4°'-) 


Storelceepers  punch  here. 


issued!  Foremen  punch  here.        X  (3°'-) 
BY 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHORITY, 


22  2  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Cases  i8,  19,  20, — Storekeeper  s  Receipts  from  Z. 

With  the  material  should  come  a  card,  made  out  by  the  stock 
clerk,  so  that  all  the  storekeeper  has  to  do  is  to  verify  the  card 
and  punch  it  "  Received."  Should  no  card  have  come  and  the 
emergency  require  the  immediate  delivery  of  the  material,  the 
storekeeper  should  make  out  the  card  himself.  In  such  a  case 
he  should  specify  on  each  card  the  number  of  the  package  from 
which  it  was  taken,  and  on  one  of  the  lot  of  cards  representing 
the  contents  of  each  package,  will  give  the  weight,  marks,  etc., 
of  the  package  as  provided  for  in  the  stock  section.  In  such  a 
case  he  should  have  the  Commanding  Officer's  punch-mark  in 
the  L.  S.  section  before  he  punches  the  card  himself;  or  it  should 
certainly  be  submitted  to  the  Commanding  Officer  before  being 
acted  on  by  the  stock  clerk.     See  page  1 74. 

Should  the  storekeeper  be  so  directed,  he  may  immediately  issue 
the  material  to  a  foreman  by  punching  "  Issued  "  and  sending  the 
card  to  him  with  the  stores  (case  19).  If  the  foreman  wishes  to 
hold  the  material  in  charge  he  will  simply  punch  "  Received  "  and 
return  the  card  to  the  storekeeper  after  indicating  on  it  to  what 
order  the  material  is  to  be  charged  ;  but  if  he  requires  it  for  imme- 
diate consumption,  he  will  also  punch  it  "  Issued." 

Such  involved  cases,  though  always  required  under  the  existing 
system,  would  under  that  proposed  be  comparatively  rare.  The 
foreman  in  case  19  would  simply  receive  the  stores  himself,  and 
the  storekeeper's  return  would  not  be  burdened  by  the  entries, 
since  he  would  know  nothing  of  them.  Case  19  represents  a 
direct  purchase  by  the  Commanding  Officer,  without  previous 
requisition.      See  page  174. 

Case  20  represents  a  requisition  by  a  foreman  for  a  special  pur- 
pose. While  the  requisition  is  approved,  the  purpose  is  dis- 
approved, and  the  material  is  bought  for  store.  The  storekeeper 
acts  as  in  case  18,  except  that,  as  the  material  is  not  to  be  used 
on  any  shop-order,  he  crosses  the  number  out  at  the  time  he 
punches  the  card.  This  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  order  on 
the  back,  directing  its  receipt  by  W. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


223 


CASE  XVIII. 
Receiving  Material  from  auoiJur  Arsenal  for  Store. 


Fk.\nkfori)  Arsenai,,      rEB  17  1883 

(f.) 

Receipts  and  issues  from,      Qj.{^-)      ^o   '^^^■{^■)     ^0 

to 

Per  ABSTRACT, 

cQ^.(j.r.) 

VOUCHER, 

^^3 

UUAiNTITY. 

Cl.\ss. 
6{s.) 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No. 

Assum 

£0 
Actu 

Price  pel 
AMOI 

Unit. 

ed. 

d. 

unit. 
NT. 

N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

(^i//c<t,  S^hi^na/ic/d.       Jv^o  invoice. 

{s.) 

CHARGE  TO                     !                       CREDIT  TO                       j 

S-O. 

C. 

Object. 

N. 

S-O. 

0. 

Object. 

N. 

P 

A 
(^ 
K 
A 
(J 
E 

KIND.     '^/iMt{s.) 
NO                 / 
WEIGHT,  Lbs.  f/^ 

Received  from,  or  sent  to 

'^   ^.    ^ancciivei  ^attacKd^. 
(..) 

MEASURE,  Ft. 

REO'D 

Foremen  punch  here. 

ISSUED 
BY 

Foremen  punch  here. 

BY 

Storekeepers  punch  here.          # 

Storekeepers  punch  here. 

AUTH  ORITY,                      C  C 

224 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


225 


CASE  XIX. 
Receiving  Purchases  into  Store  for  Issue  to  Current  Service(to  be  held  in  ch'ge). 


Frankford  Arsenal, ^.^^.M.}^P.^..(s.) 

Receipts  and  issues  from,      Q^  {s.)     to  ^/^l^.{s.)    to      J'(j.)        to 


Per  ABSTRACT,                   1       '^.{s.c.) 

6^s.c.) 

S'.is.c.) 

VOUCHER, 

2i^{s.c.) 

UUANTITY. 

Class. 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


SOO 


^a.{s.) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 

I   iO(s.) 
AMOUNT. 

^0  \00{c.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


243 


C. 


^ 


Object. 


S^. 


34 


N. 


343 


S-O. 


CREDIT  TO 


Object. 


N. 


NO. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here.         X 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHORITY, 


C  (» 


226 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


227 


CASE  XX. 
Approval  in  Fart  of  Requisiiion. 


Frankkord  Arsenal, j^^A?...!!..!??.?— C-s^ J 

Receipts  and  issues  from,      Qj.(^-)     ^'^    '^X^-)    ^'^  ^^ 


Per   ABSTRACT, 
VOUCHER, 


^'X^.r.) 


■/li'2 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


SO 


i/u/^.  (s.  J 


Aclual. 


5^0 


/«•(•«••) 


Price  per  unit. 

I  5{s.c.) 
A3IOUNT. 

S6     GO{c.c.) 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


0^uie  hiaU  ao^ ^ot  audi7ia  ^tooid  nandie*- 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


973 

!(/) 


Object. 


N. 


2(101)1 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O.        O. 


Object. 


N. 


NO. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REG'D   I   Fo''c"'S"  punch  here. 
BY 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


I'oremen  puncli  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITV, 


C  0 


228 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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230  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Case  2 1 . — Storekeeper's  Issue  to  Z. 

Suppose  an  order  of  supplies  to  arrive,  directing  the  issue  of 
certain  stores.  The  Commanding  Officer  sends  it  to  the  Ordnance 
Storekeeper  and  from  him  it  goes  to  the  stock  clerk.  The  latter 
makes  out  one  card  for  every  item  on  the  order  of  supplies,  as 
follows : 

He  fills  the  title  space,  except  the  date  ;  also  the  spaces  for  ab- 
stract, voucher,  class,  quantity,  name,  address,  and  in  "  authority" 
gives  the  number  and  date  of  the  order  of  supplies. 

Inasmuch  as  all  these  entries,  except  those  for  the  class,  quantity, 
unit  and  name  of  the  material,  are  alike  for  each  invoice,  if  the 
number  of  entries  on  the  invoice  should  justify  it,  they  should  be 
printed  in  by  rubber  stamps,  the  electric  pen  or  cyclostylic  stencil, 
or  by  some  other  permanent  process. 

The  cards  being  returned  to  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  with  the 
original  order,  the  latter  may  either  submit  them  to  the  Com- 
manding Officer  for  the  "  authority"  to  be  punched  ;  or,  prefer- 
ably, relying  on  the  authority  implied  in  the  transfer  of  the  original 
order,  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  may  do  this  himself. 

If  the  order  should  call  for  more  items  of  one  kind  than  one 
box  will  hold,  the  packer  should  make  out  blank  cards  for  each 
box.  Thus,  suppose  that  lOO  halters  are  ordered  to  be  issued, 
and  that  it  is  found  advisable  to  divide  them  among  five  boxes, 
containing  other  stores  besides.  Such  a  case  is  by  no  means 
improbable,  in  packing  the  large,  irregularly  shaped  assortment 
of  the  cavalry  supply  table,  when  sent  over  roads  where  freighting 
is  expensive  and  room  must  be  economized. 

In  such  a  case,  the  packer  would  make  out  five  cards,  each  one 
giving  the  number  of  halters  the  box  it  represented  contained. 
These  cards  would  be  punched  by  whoever  inspected  the  boxes, 
and  the  original  card,  unpunched,  would  be  returned  to  the  stock 
clerk  with  the  others.  He  would  destroy  this  card  after  seeing 
that  the  100  halters  ordered  issued  were  fully  accounted  for  on 
the  five  punched  cards.  These  last  would  form  the  basis  of  his 
accounts. 

So,  in  receiving  or  issuing  large  quantities  of  miscellaneous 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


231 


CASE  XXI. 
Issuing  from  Store  to  the  Army. 


Frankford  Arsenal, !y!.^?..IT..!?.??..... (s.) 

Receipts  and  issues  from,     ^S.{s-)     to    ^.(j.)     to  to 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


S5 
Actual 

25,600 


K^.{S.) 


/k;.{s.c.) 


Price  per  unit. 


AMOUNT. 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

oi/ie  vatb    catttt(Iae<i,  mocuc  ^So^. 
{s.) 


Per  ABSTRACT, 

/.(..r.) 

VOUCHER, 

^i{s.c.) 

UUANTITY. 

Class. 

NAME. 

Condition. 

CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


Oliyect. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


Object. 


N. 


KIND.    ^oa^<t.{s-) 


NO.      /^ A3{s.) 


WT.,Lbs./^^  M-is.j 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 

^.//:  ^  c^c^07t,  .^.  .^.  ^., 


REC'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED  I   f  ofs'is"  punch  here. 
BY        ~~ 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHOR  ITY, 


O.  cS^   4763  ;     /^^5.(S.C.) 


232  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

stores,  as  when  an  ordnance  establishment  is  broken  up,  the  con- 
tents of  each  box  or  other  package  would  be  represented  by  the 
cards  made  out  as  the  articles  were  put  in,  keeping  as  far  as  pos- 
sible those  of  the  same  name  together  in  the  same  box.  Thus, 
box  No.  II  might  contain  23  halters,  18  stirrups,  2  carbines  made 
out  on  three  cards ;  if  there  should  be  found  room  in  it  for  2 
more  halters,  a  separate  card  for  2  halters  would  make  all  right; 
or  the  number  on  the  first  card  might  be  altered  from  23  to  25. 
So  in  case  some  of  the  halters  are  taken  out,  to  make  room  for 
other  stores. 

The  top  card  of  the  lot  or  pile  representing  the  contents  of 
each  box  is  to  be  marked  in  the  package  space  with  the  kind  of 
package,  its  weight  and  its  measure  if  the  shipment  requires  it. 

These  cards,  going  to  the  stock  clerk,  may  be  sorted  first  by 
packages,  so  as  to  show  the  actual  contents  of  each  package  for 
the  quartermaster's  invoice,  and  then  by  items,  bringing  all  the 
halters,  carbines,  etc.,  together  for  entry  on  the  invoices  and  the 
classified  journal  slips  to  be  described. 

The  value  of  such  a  plan  will  be  appreciated  by  any  one  who 
has  had  to  break  up  arsenals  or  depots,  or  to  receive  their  con- 
tents. I  have  in  mind  such  a  case,  embracing  693  items,  1,677,- 
486  articles  in  2,052  packages,  which  required  about  four  months 
for  its  settlement  at  the  receiving  end  only.  Had  there  been  no 
list  or  book,  with  its  entries  scattered  over  it  and  constantly  over- 
running, altered  or  erased,  to  confine  the  work  to  one  man, 
twenty  men  might  have  been  set  to  counting,  each  having  before 
him  one  package  at  a  time,  the  contents  of  which  he  would 
enter  as  described  on  cards ;  a  separate  card  for  every  separate 
name  comprised  in  the  contents  of  the  package.  The  chief 
packer  would  have  compared  the  cards  with  the  contents  of  the 
boxes  as  the  latter  were  repacked  and  would  have  punched  them 
if  correct.  Making  out  correct  invoices  or  receipts  would  then 
have  been  an  easy  matter. 

In  cases  of  issue  the  Commanding  Officer's  punch-mark  should 
not  precede  the  packing.  If  great  particularity  were  required, 
the  packer  might  punch  the  L.  S.  section  to  attest  the  packing 
of  the  stores  and  defer  punching  "  Issued  "  until  he  had  received 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  233 

the  Commanding  Officer's  warrant  in  the  usual  way ;  or  the 
packer  might  punch  only  in  the  L.  S.  section,  and  the  inspector 
or  the  Ordnance  Storekeeper  punch  "  Issued."  A  variety  of 
such  methods  are  possible. 

It  is  not  required  that  each  box  shall  have  one  card  ;  stores  like 
ammunition,  complete  sets  of  harness,  equipments.  Catling  guns, 
reloading  tools,  etc.,  in  original  packages,  may  be  lumped  together 
on  single  cards.  But  when  the  set  is  broken,  it  would  probably 
be  better  to  make  out  a  separate  card  for  each  item,  so  that  the 
requirements  of  paragraph  13,  Property  Regulations,  which 
demand  that  all  such  items  be  accounted  for  separately,  be  com- 
plied with.  In  such  matters  a  certain  amount  of  discretion  will 
have  to  be  exercised,  though  as  a  general  rule  it  may  be  said  that 
all  attempts  to  "  cut  corners "  by  calling  in  gross  for  stores 
accounted  for  in  detail,  must  result  in  increased  clerical  work 
based  upon  more  or  less  fugitive  and  unsatisfactory  memoranda. 


234  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Cases  22,  23,  24,  25. — Issuing  on  Requisitions. 

The  requisition  space  may  be  used  by  the  Ordnance  Store- 
keeper in  getting  material  from  Z  to  complete  the  issue.  This 
would  be  particularly  useful  at  a  place  like  Benicia  Arsenal,  where, 
on  a  single  requisition,  supplies  for  the  field  have  often  to  be  pro- 
cured from  the  following  sources  : 

1.  By  direct  issue  from  store; 

2.  By  fabrication  in  the  workshop ; 

3.  By  purchase; 

4.  By  receipt  from  Eastern  arsenals. 

Having  a  stock  ledger  which  correctly  shows  from  day  to  day 
the  amount  of  material  of  every  kind  on  hand,  the  first  two  cases 
would  be  indicated  by  the  stock  clerk  writing  either  "  from  store," 
or  "  fabrication  "  under  the  words  "  to  be  received  or  issued  by." 

The  packer  would  then  know  that  the  first  lot  could  be  sent  off 
immediately,  while  the  second  would  have  to  wait  till  the  stores 
were  made.  The  third  and  fourth  cases  would  be  indicated  on 
the  upper  spaces  in  the  usual  way  for  requisitions ;  the  Ordnance 
Storekeeper  punching  instead  of  the  officer  in  charge.  The  card 
thus  matches  into  both  parts  of  the  administration  of  the  post. 

The  packer  would  sort  his  cards  according  to  the  sources  of 
supply,  so  that,  like  the  order  tickets  described  page  146,  all  cards 
in  hand  would  represent  unfinished  business,  and  would  carry 
their  own  explanation  to  any  inquirer,  however  unfamiliar  with 
the  history  of  the  requisition.  When  stores  arrived  after  purchase, 
manufacture,  or  receipt  from  other  arsenals,  each  lot  would  have 
its  billet,  showing  for  whom  it  was  intended :  as  it  now  is,  this  is 
largely  a  matter  of  memory;  why  mistakes  are  so  infrequent,  can 
only  be  explained  by  the  comparative  smallness  of  the  transactions 
and  the  long  experience  of  the  warehousemen,  for  dela}'S  of  months 
often  occur  between  the  first  and  the  last  issues  on  a  requisition. 

In  punching  "  Issued  "  on  cards  representing  issues  after  fab- 
rication, the  storekeeper  should  be  careful  to  punch  only  •'  re- 
ceived "  on  the  separate  card  on  which  the  foreman  issues  the 
fabrication  to  store.  As  in  every  other  case,  he  has  only  to  punch 
according  to  the  facts  to  have  his  card  right. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


235 


CASE  XXII. 
Issuing  from  Store  on  Requisition. — /.  Material  on  Hand. 


Frankford  Arsenal,     MAR  17  1883    ^-j.^ 
Receipts  and  issues  from,    *^^(j.r.)  io    ^.{^.c.)to  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


2{s.c.) 


VOUCHER, 


^{s.c.) 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 
6.is.c.) 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


^.{s.c.) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 
AMOUNT. 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 
(s.c.) 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


O. 


Object. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


O. 


Object. 


N. 


KIND,     ^^.(j.) 


NO. 


WEIGHT,  Lbs.  i><^ 


MEASITRE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


REC'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


CO 


236 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


2 

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•MHWHHOd  dOHS     M 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


237 


CASE  XXIII. 
Issuing  from  Store  on  Requisition. — 2.  After  Fabrication. 


Frankford  Arsenal, _^.!'.?...?...1?.??.....Cj.; 


Receipts  and  issues  from,    ^^H^.{s.c.)  to     Q^.{^.c.)  io 


to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 


Sis.c.) 


VOUCHER, 


<^(^.^.) 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 
3.{s.c.) 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


^.{s.c.) 


C>/ionae<^  anc^  tatnmei^i  u^ 


4S-hc^.  our 

(S.C.) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 
AMOUNT. 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


Object. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O. 


C. 


Olgect. 


N. 


KIND.    ^a^Xs.) 


NO. 


S(s.) 


WEIGHT,  Lbs.  ji4(j 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


^4,^0 


ovftnot  Cj 


0/  'crenti^-uwania, 

^ibcutuOuian,   'c'a. 
{s.c.) 


RECD 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHORITY, 


CO 


238 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


239 


CASE  XXIV. 

Issuing  from  Store  oji  Reqiiisilion. — 3.  After  Purchase. 


Frankford  Arsenal,     MAR  22  1883    (^s.) 
Receipts  and  issues  from,    ^.{s.cJ)  to    ^W^.{s.c.)to    QS.{s.c.)   to 


Per  ABSTRAOT. 


VOUCHER, 


^.{s.c.) 


S9^{s.c.) 


S{s.c.' 


^{s.c.) 


QUANTITY. 


Class. 


NAME. 


Condition. 


No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


/^^Xs.c.) 


Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 


AMOUNT. 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


^s.c.) 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O.        O 


Object. 


N. 


CREDIT  TO 


S-O.        C. 


Object. 


N. 


KIND.     ^ox.{s.) 


NO. 


S{s.) 


WEIGHT,  Lbs.5(.f.) 


MEASURE,  Ft. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


{S.C.-) 


REO'D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTH  ORITY, 


CO 


240 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


241 


CASE  XXV. 
Issuing  from  Store  on  Requisition. — 4.  After  Receipt  from  another  Arsenal. 


Frankford  Arsenal, Al'.?...?...^.?.??.^..  (s.) 

Receipts  and  issues  from,     Qp.{^-<^-)  ^^  '^fP".{,s.c.')  to    QS.  to 


Per  ABSTRACT, 

S^.{s.c.) 

S.{s.c.) 

VOUCHER, 

S'f^is.c.) 

^{s.c.) 

QUANTITY. 

Class. 
7 

NAME. 

Condition. 

No.  Unit. 

Assumed. 


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Actual. 


Price  per  unit. 
AMOUNT. 


N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 


^inctuMf  natt. 


(..r.) 


CHARGE  TO 


S-O. 


O. 


Otoect, 


N. 


S-O. 


CREDIT  TO 


Object. 


N. 


Received  from,  or  sent  to 


NO. 


S{s.) 


WEIGHT,  Lbs. 


{s.c.) 


MEASURE,  rt. 


REO"D 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


ISSUED 
BY 


Foremen  punch  here. 


Storekeepers  punch  here. 


AUTHORITY, 


CO 


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S       •K3IMHUOH  dOHS      Pa 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DUTIES   OF  THE   STOCK   CLERK   AND   OF  THOSE 
RELATED   TO    HIM    IN   THE   ACCOUNT- 
ABILITY OF   PROPERTY. 

Outfit. 

The  outfit  of  the  stock  clerk  consists  of  the  journal  and  ledger 
slips  ;  a  number  of  wire  letter  files  ;  a  set  of  pigeon  holes  ;  and  two 
stamps,  one  giving  automatically  consecutive  numbers,  and  the 
other  an  entry  stamp,  such  as  described  page  92. 

The  slips  above  mentioned  are  devised  to  assist  in  following  the 
official  sequence  of  names  in  making  out  the  returns  before 
described ;  the  idea  is  borrowed  from  the  ledger  form  in  use  at 
Frankford  Arsenal,  devised,  as  I  believe,  by  Mr.  H.  T.  Fries,  the 
stock  clerk  there.  The  essential  feature  of  the  form  here  pro- 
posed is  to  have  for  every  heading  a  separate  slip  which  can  be 
interpolated  among  others  in  the  very  place  where  the  sequence 
requires  it. 

To  keep  the  slips  together  they  are  not  bound,  but  are  strung 
on  a  stout  vertical  wire  provided  with  a  sufficiently  stable  base, 
like  an  ordinary  letter  file,  and  with  its  upper  end  furnished  with 
a  stop  nut  to  keep  the  slips  from  falling  off. 

As  many  slips  as  may  be  desired  may  be  strung  on  each  file ; 
but  it  would  probably  be  best  to  file  the  slips  by  classes,  each 
wire  containing  only  the  slips  belonging  to  one  class. 

In  case  a  new  heading  is  required,  the  stop  nut  is  unscrewed, 
the  cards  above  the  proper  place  are  lifted  off  and  the  new  card 
slipped  on ;  the  cards  being  then  replaced  and  the  stop  nut 
screwed  on,  the  file  is  ready  for  service  again. 

To  keep  the  slips  even,  the  holes  for  filing  are  punched  at 
a  regular  distance  from  the  ends.  If  it  were  an  object  to  save 
paper,  both  sides  of  the  slip  could  be  utilized  by  punching  a  hole 


344  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

at  each  corner  of  one  end,  otherwise  I  would  punch  but  one  hole 
in  the  slip.  When  one  slip  is  filled,  another  should  be  put  on 
over  it,  and  so  on. 

To  make  an  entry,  the  upper  slips  are  swung  aside,  the  entry 
made  on  the  slip  exposed,  preferably  in  pencil,  to  avoid  blotting, 
and  the  slips  swung  back  into  place,  being  confined  by  a  rubber 
band  about  the  outer  end  if  need  be. 

To  make  the  slips  lie  flat  while  making  entries  on  them  it 
would  be  well  to  have  a  cavity  in  the  top  of  the  writing  table  just 
deep  enough  to  receive  the  foot  of  the  file. 

Stock  Journal  and  Ledger  Slips. 

These  are  essentially  alike ;  in  each  form  the  column  contain- 
ing the  quantities  received  or  issued  is  double,  one  half  of  it 
being  reserved  for  the  Store  return  and  the  other  half  for  the  Cur- 
rent Service  return. 

The  journal  is  designed  to  facilitate  the  entry  of  material  cards, 
and  as  it  forms  the  first  step  in  their  consolidation,  it  contains  all 
the  data  necessary  for  their  identification.  The  designation  of 
the  corresponding  abstract  by  a  letter  or  a  number  shows  whether 
the  transaction  was  a  receipt  or  an  issue,  and  the  column  in 
which  the  quantity  is  entered  shows  to  which  return  the  receipt 
or  issue  belongs. 

In  the  ledger  these  two  columns  are  subdivided,  the  receipts 
being  separated  from  the  issues  for  each  return,  and  the  entries 
presented  conveniently  for  summation  and  comparison.  In 
posting  to  the  ledger  the  entries  are  consolidated  as  far  as  pos- 
sible according  to  the  abstracts  to  which  they  refer. 

Note. — Since  the  object  of  the  journal  is  to  save  filling  the  ledger  unduly  ;  when 
transactions  with  material  are  not  frequent,  the  journal  could  be  dispensed  with  by 
adding  to  the  ledger  the  first  two  columns  of  the  journal  and  omitting  the  date. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 
PROPOSED    JOURNAL    SLIP,  (31^"  x  10"). 


245 


NAME. 


Cartridges 
Rifle  Ball 
Mode,,,   1881 


Class. 


/serv.  \ 

\ttft9.  / 


Unit. 

pc. 

Price. 
2V2C. 


Card  No. 


Case  I . 

2. 

3 


Brought  forward. . 


9- 
10. 
II . 

12. 
13- 

14- 


Shop-Order. 


213 
214 


213 

49 


767 
214 
214 

49 
107 
704 

213 

214 


Carried  forward. 


6 
E. 
C. 
C. 

5 

B. 
B. 

6 
E. 
B. 
B. 

6 
E. 

5 

5 
B. 

I 
F. 

4 

4 
F. 


"3 
114 


73 


Quantities. 


Store. 


10,000 


10,015 


C.  S. 


40 
1,500 
1,500 

4 
10,000 
10,000 

1,000 

I 

10 

2 

5 
I 
I 

10 

500 

I 

6,000 


30,580 


246  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

PROPOSED   JOURNAL   SLIP.— Continued. 


• 

NAME. 

Class. 

• 

Cartridges 

/serv. 

\UftS. 

\ 
/ 

Rifle  Ball 

Unit. 

Model,  1881 

Price. 
2lc. 

Shop.Order. 

Quantities. 

Card  No. 

S 

j= 

^ 

< 

3 
0 
> 

Store. 

c.  s. 

Brought  forward.. 
Case  18 

"a." 

"183 

10,015 
20 

30,580 

'     19 

213 

c. 

218 

200 

6 

E. 

C. 
I 
2 
2 

C. 
2 

A. 
2 

""182 

84 

8 

8 

298 

8 

^1 

200 

520 
25,000 

6 
3 
5 
5 

10 
10 

200 

<     (( 

•    20 

«    21         

'     22 

«    ■zx    

'     24.         

'     -zi. 

' 

Totals 

3S>994 

30,780    j 

Recapitulation,  March  31,  1885. 

A. 
B. 

30 

11,006 

C. 

D. 

725 

1,540 

E. 
F. 

10,010 

205 
6,010 

I 

25,000 

I 

2 

24 

3 

4 

1 

205 

501 
1,507 

10,010 

Totals 

35.994 

30, 780 

r'arripfl  forward                  .  .           

1 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 
PROPOSED    LEDGER    SLIP,  (4"  x  10"). 


247 


•                                          • 

NAME.                                             Class. 

Cartridges                                                          (^^•) 
Rifle  Ball                                                               8 

Unit. 

Model,  1881                                                         pc. 

Price. 
2lc. 

Date,  1885. 

< 

.X3 
0 
3 
0 

> 

Store  Return. 

C.  S  Return. 

Received. 

Issued. 

Received. 

Issued. 

Brought  forward.. 
March  31 

"a." 
c. 

<( 

E. 

I 

2 
B. 
C 

E. 
F. 

I 
4 
5 
6 

'      "183 

218 
298 
182 

■■"84 

8 

"3 
114 

18,000 

20 

10 

200 

5 

520 

10,010 

25,000 
24 

205 

600 

n,oo6 

40 

1,500 

205 

6,010 

I 

SOI 

1.507 

10,010 

Totals -  - 

28,765 
3.536 

25,229 

19.361 
7.342 

12,019 

Balances  carried j 
Gross  Balance,  ic 

Car 

fonuanl 

),878. 

ried  forward 

248  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Manner  of  Entering  Material  Cards  on  Journal  and  Ledger  Slips. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  final  resting  place  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  cards  must  be  with  the  cost  clerk,  so  that  the  cost  of 
the  elements  of  each  completed  order  may  always  be  conveniently 
analyzed,  it  is  necessary  for  the  stock  clerk  to  take  note  of  them 
as  they  pass  through  his  hands  in  such  a  manner  as  to  lead  to 
their  ready  combination  on  the  returns.  And  since  the  individual 
entries  made  from  the  cards  thus  have  their  identity  merged  in 
the  general  result,  in  order  to  verify  the  entries  by  the  Stock 
Clerk,  it  is  arranged  that  each  card,  before  being  entered  on  the 
journal,  shall  receive  a  consecutive  number  by  which  it  may  be 
found  among  the  other  cards  having  the  same  shop-order  num- 
ber in  the  hands  of  the  cost  clerk.  To  show  in  what  group  of 
cards  it  may  be  found,  the  journal  slip  has  a  column  to  contain 
the  number  of  the  shop-order  to  which  the  material  is  charged, 
or,  if  not  charged  to  any  order,  to  which  it  is  credited.  Cards 
with  order  numbers  go  to  the  cost  clerk ;  those  without  them  are 
kept  by  the  stock  clerk,  arranged  according  to  their  serial 
numbers. 

Therefore  the  stock  clerk  should  stamp  once,  with  its  serial 
number,  every  card  passing  before  him,  whether  it  is  complete 
or  not. 

When  cards  bearing  punch-marks  in  the  stock  section  come  to 
him,  he  goes  carefully  over  them,  changing  the  names,  when 
required,  to  conform  to  the  official  nomenclature  and  inserting  in 
the  title  section  the  designation  of  the  abstract  to  which  the  trans- 
action belongs.  When  it  is  supported  by  a  numbered  voucher, 
as  in  abstracts  A;  C;  i;  2;  3,  he  writes  the  number  of  the 
voucher  under  the  designation  of  the  abstract  in  the  place  pro- 
vided for  it  on  the  card. 

He  then  sorts  the  cards  according  to  the  nomenclature  and 
enters  them  on  the  journal  slips,  making  one  entry  for  each  punch- 
mark  on  each  card. 

The  column  in  which  the  quantity  should  be  entered  is  indi- 
cated by  the  character  in  the  line  above  the  abstract  line ;  when 
the  designation  of  the  abstract  comes  under  that  of  a  storehouse, 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  249 

the  entry  belongs  to  the  store  return ;  when  it  is  under  that  of  a 
shop  or  of  a  fabrication,  the  entry  belongs  to  the  current  service 
column;  when  it  is  under  Z,  the  entry  belongs  to  either  return, 
according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

The  proper  return  being  thus  known,  the  designation  of  the 
abstract  indicates  whether  it  is  a  receipt  or  an  issue  on  that 
return  and  also  to  what  class  of  receipts  or  issues  it  belongs.  The 
story  is  fully  told  and  with  the  fewest  words.  The  card  should 
then  be  stamped  "  Entered  by  stock  clerk,"  and,  if  bearing  a 
shop-order  number,  should  be  sent  to  the  cost  clerk  unless  previ- 
ously needed  by  the  pay  clerk,  as  described  page  260. 

Posting  to  the  Ledge}'. 

This  is  done  by  adding  up  the  quantities  belonging  to  each 
abstract  on  each  return  and  entering  the  totals  in  red  ink  below 
those  made  in  pencil  from  day  to  day.  They  are  then  ready  to 
be  carried  to  the  ledger,  in  which,  however,  entries  belonging  to 
abstracts  A ;  C ;  i  ;  2  ;  3  should  be  entered  in  detail  with  the 
corresponding  voucher  numbers.  This  difference  in  treatment  is 
made  necessary  by  the  requirement  that  these  abstracts  shall 
show  the  individual  vouchers  to  which  their  entries  pertain. 

The  journal  and  ledger  should  each  be  consolidated  quarterly, 
or,  if  desired,  at  any  intermediate  time,  by  simply  posting 
the  ledger  slip  to  date  and  making  the  necessary  additions  and 
subtractions.  The  exact  amount  of  material  of  any  kind  remain- 
ing on  hand  may  always  be  ascertained  and  be  verified  if  required 
by  tracing  to  the  very  beginning  every  transaction  contributing  to 
produce  it. 

This  is  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  examples  which  repre- 
sent the  posting  in  both  journal  and  ledger  slips  of  the  cards 
used  as  examples  in  Chapter  XIII.  To  avoid  multiplying  the 
number  of  slips  these  cards  are  here  all  supposed  to  refer  to 
the  same  material. 


250  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Principal  Papers   Combining  Cash  and   Property 
Accountability. 

i.  present  system. 

We  have  seen  in  Chapter  V  the  importance  to  the  present  sys- 
tem of  the  quarterly  Abstract  of  purchases,  and  have  noted  some 
of  its  defects.  It  was  seen  that  these  arise  principally  from  its 
having  to  combine  in  one  paper  such  independent  evidence  as 
that  of  purchase  and  of  receipt,  assuming  a  simultaneity  which 
never  exists. 

In  order  to  compile  a  more  satisfactory  substitute  for  this 
abstract  from  the  data  given  by  the  material  cards,  it  is  necessary 
to  examine  the  principal  papers  in  which  material  and  money  are 
both  referred  to,  and  also  to  note  what  special  services  are 
required  of  the  cards. 

These  papers  are : 

1.  The  certificate  of  inspection. 

2.  The  voucher. 

3.  The  monthly  abstract  of  purchases. 

4.  The  quarterly  abstract  of  purchases  "  C." 

5.  The  monthly  abstract  of  disbursements. 

1.  The  Certificates  of  Inspection. 

These  are  consolidations  of  various  bills  received  from  each 
person  or  firm  since  the  last  payment.  They  are  designed  to 
show  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  that  the  material,  the  purchase  of 
which  he  is  asked  to  authorize,  has  actually  been  received  and  is 
of  good  quality.  They  are  generally  made  out  monthly  or 
oftener.  When  returned  to  the  Commanding  Officer,  approved, 
vouchers  in  duplicate  are  made  out  as  follows : 

2.  The  Vouchers. 

The  purchase  voucher  is  a  complete  statement  of  a  purchase, 
with  the  names  of  the  articles  purchased,  classified  according  to 
the  appropriations  from  which  payable.  Under  each  appropria- 
tion the  names  should  be  arranged  according  to  the  official 
nomenclature. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  251 

Certificate  of  Inspection.     Present  Form  {^Yz"  x  14'^). 

Certificate  No.  ,  on  contract*  of ,  188  . 

The  United  States  Ordnance  Department,  Dr. 

To         John  Doe. 


Date. 

Dollars. 

Cts. 

Total 

.^^-  $ 

I  hereby  certify  that  I  have  inspected  and  accepted  the  above-named 

property  furnished  by  ,  under  contract  with 

„ „ _ —dated ,188. 

And  I  further  certify  that  the  said  property  has  been  inspected 
according  to  the  Regulations  estabhshed  by  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment for  the  inspection  of ,  before  its  reception 

for  the  Service  of  the  United  States;  that  it  is  of  good  quahty, 
and  is  in  all  respects  conformable  to  the  requirements  of  the  contract. 


■day  of „... ,  188  . 


Given  under  my  hand  at _.this.. 

Approved : 

E.  S.  J., 

Assistant  Inspector. 
O.  E.  M., 

Captain     of  Ordnance,  Inspector. 

Received  at ,  this day  of. ,  188  ,  the 

above-named  property. 

D.  J.   v., 

Ordnance  Storekeeper. 

I  approve  the  foregoing,  and  certify  the  above  account  in  favor  of 

for — -TTJ^  dollars  to  be 

correct  and  just. 

_     _   ^.  M.,  __ 

Major     of  Ordnance, 

Commanding. 

*  A  similar  form  is  used  for  purchases  not  by  contract. 


252 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  253 

3.   The  Monthly  Abstract  of  Purchases. 

This  is  a  single  abstract  containing  a  list  of  the  articles  pur- 
chased during  the  past  month,  consolidated  by  names  and  classified 
according  to  the  nomenclature.  The  amounts  paid  are  extended 
conveniently  for  summation. 

This  paper  has  apparently  a  two-fold  object :  first,  to  consoli- 
date the  amounts  disbursed  for  purchases;  and  second,  to  enable 
the  Chief  of  Ordnance  to  compare  readily  the  price  paid  for  the 
same  articles  at  different  arsenals. 

The  voucher  numbers  in  the  margin  are  only  for  casual  refer- 
ence to  the  vouchers  from  which  the  items  are  derived ;  they 
serve  no  connected  purpose.  The  same  remark  is  true  as  to  the 
"  purposes  "  for  which  room  is  made.  The  recapitulation  of  the 
amounts  at  the  end  of  the  paper  logically  belongs  to  the  abstract 
of  disbursements,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  functions  of 
this  abstract.     See  page  255. 


254 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  255 

4.  TJie  Quarterly  Abstract  of  Purchases. 

This  is  a  double  abstract,  see  page  42,  containing  a  serial 
list  of  vouchers  on  which  purchases  have  been  made,  with  the 
articles  purchased  on  each  voucher  arranged  under  headings 
furnished  by  the  official  nomenclature. 

This  paper  is  not  compiled,  as  might  be  imagined,  from  the  cor- 
responding monthly  abstracts,  but  from  the  individual  vouchers. 
It  affords  the  means  of  accounting  for  the  purchases  as  receipts 
on  the  property  return. 

5,  The  Monthly  Abstract  of  Disbursements. 

This  is  a  purely  cash  paper,  in  the  form  of  a  double  abstract, 
containing  a  list  of  all  vouchers  paid  during  the  month,  both  for 
purchases  and  services,  with  the  amounts  paid  on  each  voucher, 
distributed  under  the  heads  of  the  appropriations  to  which  they 
belong.  The  agencies  are  the  vouchers  arranged  serially  and 
accompanied  by  a  synoptical  statement  of  their  contents.  This 
synopsis  is  only  useful  as  a  guide  to  the  general  correctness  of 
the  distribution  of  the  charges ;  it  can  serve  no  connected  pur- 
pose.    See  Chap.   XV. 

Note. — It  will  be  observed  that  each  of  the  last  three  abstracts  requires  the  over- 
hauling of  every  individual  voucher  relating  to  purchases  during  the  period  to  which 
the  abstract  belongs.  No  means  seem  to  have  been  provided  for  their  progressive 
consolidation,  but  the  whole  work  has  to  be  done  over  anew  for  every  one  of  the 
papers. 


256  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Principal  Papers  Combining  Cash  and  Property 
Accountability — continued. 

II.  proposed  system. 

1.  The  Certificate  of  Inspection. 

As  now  made. 

2.  TJie   Voucher. 

As  now  made. 

3.  The  Motithly  Abstract  of  Purchases. 

CRITICISM    OF   PRESENT   FORM. 

For  what  is  called  a  cash  paper,  the  classification  of  the  prop- 
erty purchased  is,  except  for  the  minor  reason  given,  page  253,3 
waste  of  time.  Difficult  work  of  this  kind  should  not  be  required, 
except  as  tending  to  further  consolidation.  This  is  not  here  the 
case,  since  the  quarterly  abstract  (4)  requires  a  return  to  the 
elementary  vouchers  from  which  the  monthly  paper  was  originally 
compiled. 

The  place  of  purchase  given  on  the  voucher  needs  repetition 
no  more  than  does  the  name  of  the  creditor,  which  is  not  re- 
peated. The  same  remark  applies  to  the  "  purpose,"  which  can- 
not always  be  definitely  expressed,  and  which,  were  it  otherwise, 
would  prevent  consolidation,  except  of  purchases  for  a  common 
object. 

For  a  cash  paper,  which  this  is  said  to  be,  it  seems  strange 
that  it  makes  no  reference  to  the  principal  common  feature  in 
the  purchases  which  it  consolidates  ;  viz.,  the  appropriation  out 
of  which  they  have  been  made. 

Finally,  the  whole  paper  seems  useless;  it  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  property  accountability;  and  could  be  dropped  from  the 
cash  accountability  without  being  missed. 

REMEDY    PROPOSED, 
(rt.)  Make  the  monthly  abstract  of  purchases  a  double  abstract 
precisely  similar  in  form  to  the  quarterly  paper,  except  that  on 


INTERNAL  RELA  TIONS.  257 

the  right  should  be  a  space  for  each  appropriation  under  which 
purcliases  are  made.  Adding  up  the  articles  consolidates  the 
propcrt}' ;  adding  up  the  amounts  consolidates  the  cash.  See 
form  proposed,  page  258. 

4.  The  Quarterly  Abstract  of  Purchases. 

{b.)  Replace  the  quarterly  abstract  of  purchases  now  made  by 
a  new  double  abstract,  C,  which  would  become  the  "  Abstract  of 
articles  received  by  purchase."  The  agencies  would  be  a  serial 
list  of  the  fly  bills  received  from  public  creditors ;  the  articles 
received  would  be  arranged  under  the  headings  given  by  the 
nomenclature,  precisely  as  is  now  done  with  the  quarterly  abstract. 
The  only  difference  would  be  in  the  agencies,  which  would 
depend  upon  actual  receipts  without  regard  to  whether  they  had 
yet  been  paid  for  or  not. 

{c.)  Consolidate  quarterly  or  annually  the  footings  of  the 
monthly  abstracts  and  compare  their  aggregate  with  that  of  the 
consolidated  abstracts  C.  Differences  would  be  explained  by  an 
abstract  of  articles  received  but  not  paid  for.  I  should  prefer  this 
consolidation  to  be  made  annually,  because,  since  purchases  must 
always  be  received  before  they  are  paid  for,  abstract  C  would  be 
always  ahead  throughout  the  year,  until  its  expiration  compelled 
a  settlement  of  all  accounts. 

5.  The  Abstract  of  Disbursements. 

Transfer  to  this  abstract  on  one  line  the  footings  under  each 
appropriation  on  the  proposed  monthly  abstract  of  purchases,  as 
is  now  done  with  the  footings  on  the  return  of  hired  men. 

This  would  be  logical  and  labor-saving,  and  would  tend  to 
reduce  the  abstract  to  a  two-line  paper,  one  line  for  services  and 
the  other  for  material,  to  which  two  headings  all  expenditures  can 
be  definitely  referred. 

ADVANTAGES. 

1.  The  consolidation  would  be  progressive,  and  work  need  not 
be  done  twice  and  even  three  times  over,  as  is  now  required. 

2.  Detailed  information  would  be  given  by  papers  of  the  proper 


258 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


IT. 

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N    N    «S    M 

13 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  259 

lower  grade,  and  would  not  embarrass  the  preparation  or  com- 
prehension of  more  concentrated  statements. 

3.  On  the  proposed  monthly  abstract  of  purchases  would  hinge 
the  property  and  money  accountability  of  the  arsenal,  without  pre- 
venting the  independent  treatment  of  these  two  accountabilities ; 
the  former  on  abstract  C,  made  up  without  regard  to  values,  and 
the  latter  on  the  abstract  of  disbursements,  made  up  without  re- 
gard to  quantities. 

The  credit  taken  by  the  paymaster  for  money  spent  in  purchases 
would  be  balanced  by  the  accountability  required  of  the  store- 
keeper for  the  articles  purchased,  and  this  would  be  traced  down, 
as  elsewhere  provided,  to  the  very  shop-orders  on  which  the 
material  was  expended,  just  as  the  analysis  of  the  time  book  (Chap. 
XV)  makes  the  credit  to  the  paymaster  a  charge  to  the  shop- 
order  on  which  the  labor  was  most  probably  employed.  The 
circle  would  be  complete. 

It  will  appear  that  the  quarterly  abstract  of  purchases  C  will 
have  lost  its  character  as  a  combination  tool,  making  the  evidence 
of  receipt  depend  upon  that  of  purchase.  We  may  now  treat  the 
two  questions  independently,  since  the  essential  point  in  one  case 
is  to  charge  the  material  to  the  storekeeper  as  soon  as  it  is  received, 
from  whatever  source  and  under  whatever  circumstances  it  may 
have  come;  and  in  the  other  case  to  credit  the  purchase  money 
to  the  paymaster  in  consideration  of  the  equivalent  value  the 
government  has  received  through  its  other  agent,  the  storekeeper. 

What  the  storekeeper  needs  is  evidence  that  he  has  charged 
himself  with  all  that  was  sent  him ;  what  the  paymaster  needs  is 
evidence  that  the  storekeeper  was  charged  with  the  articles  with 
the  money  value  of  which  he  is  credited. 

What  the  government  needs  is  evidence  that  the  articles  for 
which  it  pays  have  actually  been  received  and  will  be  accounted 
for.  This  it  gets  by  seeing,  ist,  that  what  it  pays  for  is  accounted 
for:  this  comes  from  annually  comparing  the  monthly  abstracts 
with  abstract  C ;  2d,  that  what  is  accounted  for  is  what  was  re- 
ceived :  this  comes  from  comparing  the  bills  or  invoices  from 
outside  consignors  with  what  is  taken  up  on  abstract  C.  Thus 
its  own  necessities  and  those  of  its  two  agents  are  satisfied. 


26o  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Proposed  Method  of  Compiling  Principal  Cash  and 
Property  Papers  from  Material  Cards. 

PERSONS. 
There  are  three  clerks  involved ;   named  in  the  order  in  which 
the  cards  generally  reach  them  for  entry,  they  are : 

1.  The  cost  clerk; 

2.  The  stock  clerk ; 

3.  The  pay  clerk. 

(The  pay  clerk  is  generally  the  chief  clerk,  or  the  cash  clerk; 
but  as  the  latter  title  might  be  confused  with  that  of  the  cost  clerk, 

1  prefer  to  use  the  title  given  in  Chapter  VIII.) 

I.   TJic   Cost  Clerk. 

The  cost  clerk  should  receive  daily  all  cards  concerning  him, 
and  after  entering  their  consolidated  values  on  the  cost  sheet, 
should  send  those  containing  punch-marks  in  the  stock  section  to 
the  stock  clerk,  and  file  away  all  others  as  explained  in  Chapter  XV. 

2  and  3.   TJie  Stock  and  Pay  Clerks. 

The  stock  clerk  should  enter  the  cards  as  soon  as  possible  on 
the  journal  slips  and  send  to  the  pay  clerk  those  belonging  to 
abstract  C,  with  the  fly  bills  received  from  the  creditors.  Cards 
should  be  stamped  "entered"  after  their  contents  have  been 
transferred  to  the  journal,  and  those  containing  a  charge  or  credit 
to  a  shop-order  should  be  returned  to  the  cost  clerk,  unless  they 
belong  to  abstract  C,  when  they  are  sent  to  the  pay  clerk,  as  above 
provided.  Those  not  sent  to  cither  of  the  two  other  clerks  should 
be  filed  away  by  the  stock  clerk  according  to  their  serial  numbers. 

process  of  compiling. 
I.   Certificates  of  Inspection. 

Let  the  pay  clerk  sort  the  cards  received  from  the  stock  clerk 
according  to  firm  names,  and  sort  the  cards  in  each  firm  name 
according  to  the  nomenclature.  Then  he  can  compile  the  cer- 
tificate by  simply  copying  off  the  cards,  consolidating  materials 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  261 

of  the  same  name.  The  prices  would  be  given  by  the  fly  bills 
unless  otherwise  established. 

It  is  a  moot  question  as  to  who  should  be  the  assistant  inspector 
and  the  inspector  required  by  the  form  to  certify  as  to  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  the  materials  enumerated.  Inasmuch  as  I  can  find 
in  neither  the  Regulations  nor  in  orders  anything  about  inspectors 
for  arsenal  purposes,  except  for  coal,  I  am  led  to  hope  that  the 
signature  of  the  principal  receiving  officer  may  be  held  conclusive. 
Under  this  supposition  the  certificates  should  be  signed  by  the 
Ordnance  Storekeeper  or  by  the  Executive  Officer,  depending 
upon  the  return  on  which  the  material  was  received.  The  cards, 
the  registered  acts  of  these  officers  or  of  their  subordinates,  would 
show  precisely  who  was  responsible  for  the  material  accepted. 

The  certificates,  the  fly  bills  and  the  cards  would  then  go  to 
the  Commanding  Officer,  who  would  be  able  to  see  for  himself, 
before  signing  the  certificate,  that  the  rights  of  both  the  creditor 
and  the  government  had  been  protected. 

To  prevent  the  same  card  from  being  used  twice  in  making  out 
certificates,  it  might  be  well  for  the  Commanding  Officer  to  have 
the  cards  stamped  after  comparing  them. 

2.  Compiling  Vouchers. 

The  pay  clerk  should  sort  each  batch  bearing  the  name  of  the 
same  creditor  according  to  appropriations.  The  cards  under  each 
appropriation  being  then  sorted  according  to  the  nomenclature, 
would  give  the  voucher  form,  to  be  completed  by  adding  the 
prices  given  by  the  certificate  of  inspection.  When  the  voucher 
has  been  prepared  the  clerk  should  stamp  the  corresponding 
cards  "Entered  on  voucher  No ,  (month),  188  ." 

3.  Compilijig  the  MontJily  Abstracts  of  Purchases. 

After  the  cards  have  been  entered  on  the  vouchers,  they  should 
all  be  sorted  according  to  nomenclature.  This  may  be  easily 
done  by  interpolating  cards  relating  to  the  same  material  and 
bearing  the  same  voucher  number  among  the  cards  previously 
sorted.  Copying  the  names  gives  the  headings  sought  in  their 
proper  order,  and  the  abstract  may  be  compiled  vertically.     See 


262  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

page  265.  By  comparing  it  afterwards  with  the  vouchers  the 
prices  and  amounts  may  be  filled  in,  and  the  work  be  generally 
verified. 

The  cards  should  then  be  returned  to  the  cost  clerk  for  file. 
In  the  event  of  his  having  needed  any  of  those  in  the  hands  of 
the  pay  clerk,  he  knows  exactly  where  to  look  for  them,  for  the 
name  of  the  material  gives  the  journal  slip  ;  this,  the  name  of  the 
voucher  to  abstract  C  (see  next  section)  ;  and  this,  the  name  of 
the  creditor  in  whose  file  the  card  will  be  found. 

4.  Compiling  Abstract  C. 

When  a  fly  bill  is  received  from  a  public  creditor  the  stock  clerk 
gives  it  a  serial  number  and  copies  it  into  a  register,  see  page  263. 
This  number  is  the  voucher  number  for  the  cards  supporting  the 
bill,  and  the  register  is  the  retained  copy  of  the  vouchers  to 
abstract  C. 

Differences  between  names  and  quantities  billed  and  those  re- 
ceived are  plainly  shown  on  both  original  bill  and  register. 
By  comparing  these  now  and  then  with  the  cards  a  proper  check 
on  the  necessary  freedom  of  the  stock  clerk  may  be  established. 

The  original  fly  bill  goes  with  the  cards  supporting  it  to  the 
pay  clerk,  who,  after  making  out  the  monthly  abstract  of  purchases, 
returns  it  to  the  stock  clerk  to  be  used  as  a  voucher  to  abstract 
C.  The  preparation  of  this  abstract  is  not  delayed  until  the  return 
of  the  fly  bill,  since  the  abstract  can  be  more  easily  compiled 
from  the  data  of  the  journal  than  from  the  fly  bills  themselves. 

Notes. — To  pass  from  the  individual  cash  vouchers  to  the  individual  property  vouch- 
ers, the  pay  clerk  should  note  on  each  the  other's  corresponding  numbers.  Then, 
vouchers  to  abstract  C  not  referred  to  any  cash  voucher  would  be  those  of  property 
received,  but  not  paid  for,  and  the  resulting  outstanding  indebtedness  would  appear 
from  a  simple  inspection  of  the  register  of  fly  bills. 

Incidentally,  it  will  appear  that  the  material  cards  in  the  hands  of  the  clerks  act  very 
much  as  has  been  said  of  the  order  tickets  in  the  shops,  and  of  the  material  cards  in 
the  storehouse.     See  pages  147,  234. 

The  total  indebtedness  can  at  any  moment  be  readily  determined;  for  the  cards 
in  the  hands  of  the  stock  clerk  awaiting  arrival  represent  material  ordered,  but  not 
received,  and  those  in  the  hands  of  the  pay  clerk  represent  material  received,  divided 
into  two  categories,  paid  and  unpaid.     They  should  be  kept  in  separate  pigeon  holes. 

One  great  advantage  following  the  use  of  the  fly  bills  as  vouchers  to  abstract  C  is 
the  readiness  with  which  their  serial  numbers  are  given,  and  the  help  which  this  feature 
affords  to  the  progressive  preparation  of  the  abstract.     Otherwise,  one  has  to  wait  until 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


263 


"J 

, — .^ 

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en 

1 

00 

< 

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^*— ' 

u 

<-> 

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•posi3i{Dind  qoiqAV  uo 

rO  rO 

aaipnoA  qsuo  jo  Jaquiu^ 

t^  t-^ 

0 

0      • 

•junouiy 

•}iun  J3d  30UJ 

tr. 

J 

H^ 

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Q 

12; 

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« 

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0 

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CO 

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D 

00     • 

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uaqDnoA  jo  aaquin^Nj 

2  64  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

the  voucher  is  paid  before  knowing  what  number  to  give  it  on  the  property  papers ; 
and  even  when  the  proper  number  is  known,  nothing  can  be  done  toward  preparing  the 
abstract  until  all  the  vouchers,  giving  the  names  upon  the  serial  arrangement  of  which 
the  abstract  depends,  have  been  completed. 

5.  Compiling  Abstract  ^  {of  Expettditures). 

This,  which  is  the  only  double  abstract  unsupported  by  num- 
bered vouchers,  requires  special,  treatment  depending  on  the 
form  in  which  it  may  be  rendered  in  future. 

It  will  be  remembered,  page  53,  that  its  present  arrangement 
is  faulty  in  that  it  is  indeterminate  and  groups  together  several 
inconsistent  agencies. 

Three  courses  seem  open  : 

First,  to  dispense  with  its  double  form  and  make  it  a  simple 
classified  list  of  stores  expended,  i.  e.,  material,  the  name  of  which 
has  been  changed. 

Note. — According  to  the  system  proposed,  stores  issued  to  current  service  are  no 
longer  considered  as  necessarily  expended. 

Second,  instead  of  the  present  arbitrary  subdivision  of  the 
objects  of  expenditure,  to  make  one  depending  on  the  standing 
shop-orders  of  the  post  as  indicated  on  the  material  cards  report- 
ing the  expenditure.  These  would  suffice  for  a  classification  of 
all  expenditures  not  chargeable  to  special  fabrications,  which  last 
would  be  reported  in  bulk  on  this  abstract  beneath  the  standing 
shop-order  list  as  "  fabrications." 

Third,  if  it  should  be  thought  worth  while  to  keep  the  present 
system,  to  designate  the  line  on  abstract  5,  to  which  the  entry 
belongs,  in  the  voucher  column  of  the  ledger  slip  ;  thus,  miscel- 
laneous expenditures  for  the  manufacture  of  small  arm  ammunition 
would  be  designated  in  the  voucher  column  of  the  ledger  by  the 
number  2.  See  page  46.  But  this  course  would  depend  for  its 
exactness,  as  does  the  present  one,  upon  the  judgment  of  the 
stock  clerk,  who  would  then,  no  more  than  now,  be  able  to  judge 
of  the  correctness  of  the  entry.  The  second  course  appears  the 
most  homogeneous  and  the  best. 

6.  Cojiipiling  the  Abstracts  from  the  Ledger. 

The  ledger  slips  being  already  arranged  in  the  order  of  the 
nomenclature,  we  seek  among  them  in  succession  for  the  desig- 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  265 

nation  of  the  abstract  to  be  compiled  ;  the  names  under  which  this 
designation  occurs  being  entered  on  the  abstract  in  order,  the 
most  difficult  part  of  the  work  is  done.  We  have  just  the  names 
required,  and  no  more,  arranged  in  their  exact  order. 

Single  abstracts  are  compiled  from  the  ledger  slips  by  entering 
on  them  in  the  sequence  of  names  the  total  quantities  appearing 
on  the  slips  which  contain  the  designation  of  the  abstract  com- 
piled. 

But,  if  it  be  an  abstract  with  numbered  vouchers,  we  take  from 
each  ledger  slip  in  succession  the  quantities  relating  to  each 
voucher,  and  enter  them  directly  on  the  abstract  on  the  horizontal 
line  corresponding  with  the  voucher  number  in  the  margin.  It 
will  be  observed  that  we  work  in  vertical  columns,  finishing  one 
heading  at  a  time,  instead  of  having  to  go  from  page  to  page, 
blotting  each  line  before  turning  the  leaf,  as  is  required  when  car- 
rying the  same  horizontal  line  through  several  consecutive  pages. 

A  vertical  strip  of  paper  with  the  numbers  of  the  vouchers  on 
the  edge  may  be  carried  from  column  to  column,  so  as  to  show  the 
exact  line  reserved  for  each  voucher. 

The  work  may  be  checked  by  reading  off  the  vouchers,  follow- 
ing along  the  corresponding  lines  to  see  that  the  quantities  on 
the  abstract  agree  with  them. 

The  footings  of  the  columns  in  the  double  abstracts  should  also 
agree  with  the  quarterly  totals  entered  in  red  ink  on  the  ledger  as 
before  described. 

Note. — In  compiling  abstracts  it  is  possible  that  it  may  be  found  better  to. use  the 
ledger  slips  only  to  give  the  sequence  of  names  for  each  abstract,  and  to  fill  in  the 
abstract  in  the  usual  manner.  Such  a  course  would  permit  all  entries  on  the  journal 
belonging  to  the  same  abstract  to  be  bulked  before  posting  to  the  ledger,  without  re- 
gard to  the  exceptions  as  to  abstracts  A,  C,  I,  2,  3,  noted  page  248.  It  is  only  a 
question  as  to  which  course  would  in  the  end  be  found  easiest  to  practice. 

7.   Compiling  the  Returns. 

The  subsequent  course  of  the  abstracts  remains  to  be  determined. 
They  may  be  combined,  as  now,  into  two  independent  returns; 
or,  as  has  been  already  suggested,  may  be  consolidated  into  an 
Arsenal  Return  resembling  the  present  inventory. 

Whatever  course  may  be  desired,  means  have  been  provided 
for  carrying  it  out  with  economy  and  dispatch. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

DUTIES  OF  THE  COST  CLERK  AND  OF  THOSE  RELATED 
TO  HIM  IN  THE  ACCOUNTABILITY  FOR  VALUES. 

Outfit. 
Stencils. 

After  the  shop-order  has  been  signed,  page  142,  the  book  is 
sent  to  the  cost  clerk,  who  makes  out  from  it  the  requisite  number 
of  tickets,  including  one  for  himself.  In  doing  this  he  will  be 
assisted  by  using  stencils  pricked  by  the  cyclostylic  or  electric 
pens,  which  will  assure  the  exact  similitude  of  the  order  tickets 
and  permit  their  indefinite  duplication. 

Racks. 

He  has  in  his  office  a  rack  similar  to  that  described  page  92, 
in  which  he  classifies  the  orders  according  to  the  appropriations 
from  which  payable. 

Completed  order  tickets  should  be  returned  through  him,  that 
he  may  know  when  to  close  the  account. 

Sorting  Trough. 

Sorting  the  cards,  of  which  the  cost  clerk  has  much  to  do,  will 
be  facilitated  by  using  V-shaped  troughs  suited  to  the  size  of  the 
cards  sorted,  in  which  they  will  stand  with  the  characteristic  side 
exposed.  Movable  triangular  partitions  serve  to  divide  the  cards 
into  the  assortment  desired.  Any  number  of  assistants  may  be 
at  work  sorting  the  same  cards  at  once ;  they  need  only  be  able 
to  read  intelligently. 

The  summation  of  quantities  may  be  generally  made  from  the 
cards  themselves,  particularly  from  the  service  cards.  This 
carries  out  one  of  the  main  ideas  of  the  present  work:  to  avoid 
all  work  of  computation  not  forming  part  of  the  records. 

Wages  Tables. 

In  computing  the  cost  of  labor,  the  wages  tables  shown  here- 
with are  very  convenient.  They  are  in  the  long  run  probably 
more  accurate  than  separate  computations  for  individual  cases, 


268 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


and  take  much  less  time  to  prepare  than  any  complete  tables  of 
figures.  To  find  the  value  of  labor,  say  at  $2.75  per  day  of  8 
hours,  for  3  days  'j\  hours,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  look 
out  the  given  time  in  the  lower  line  and  follow  up  the  correspond- 
ing vertical  until  it  intersects  the  2.75  line;  the  horizontal  passing 
through  the  intersection  gives  the  amount  of  wages  with  an  error 
due  only  to  mechanical  inaccuracies  in  ruling. 

The  table  shown  is  intended  only  as  a  general  illustration  of  a 
principle  to  be  applied  for  each  case  as  circumstances  may  re- 
quire. At  Benicia  Arsenal  the  following  scales  were  found  con- 
venient: The  paper  was  in  each  case  about  18x23  inches,  bought 
ruled  in  tenths  of  inches  in  pale  blue.  This  ruling  was  overlaid 
by  dark  blue  and  red  lines  as  indicated  below.  The  general  idea 
prompting  the  use  of  different  scales  was,  that  short  jobs  would 
generally  be  those  requiring  the  most  exact  account. 


Suggested  Scales  for  Wages  Tables. 


No.  of  spaces  between 

Scales. 

«1 

dark  blue 
lines. 

red  lines. 

Time  (horizontal). 

Money  (vertical). 

0  0 

vert. 

3 
4 

hor. 
4 

5 

vert. 
12 

32 

hor. 
25 

Divisions. 

Extent. 

Max    rate 
1  er  day  for 
which  table 
is  complete. 

One  space  equals 

I 

Hours,  quarters  and 
five-minute    inter- 
vals. 

141^  hrs. 

$2.50 

2  cents. 

2 

Days,  quarter  days, 
hours  and  quarter 
hours. 

S/i  days. 

$4.00 

10  cents. 

3 

4 

5 

8 

20 

Days  and  hours. 

22  days. 

$5.00 

50  cents. 

Ex'ple 
in  text. 

16 

4 

4 

-■ 

Days,  quarter  days, 
hours     and      half 
hours. 

6  days. 

$4.00 

25  cents. 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  269 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  use  of  these  tables  enables  time  to 
be  kept  in  very  small  fractions,  as  it  scarcely  gives  the  cost  clerk 
more  trouble  than  if  it  were  kept  in  large  units,  say,  quarter  days 
or  hours.  This  is  often  a  great  advantage,  particularly  when  doing 
many  small  repair  jobs,  the  cost  of  which,  if  the  time  on  each  seems 
too  little  to  be  counted,  goes  to  swell  unduly  that  of  some  other  job. 

I  believe  that  this  will  go  to  meet  the  tendency  to  closer  time 
reckoning,  which  I  have  reason  to  believe  exists  in  workshops 
generally.  Some  shops  get  as  low  in  the  scale  of  reckoning  as 
the  half  hour,  though  formerly  nothing  less  than  a  day  was  counted. 

The  tables  will  favor  such  attempts  at  accuracy,  but  with  the 
following  slight  disadvantages :  Since  the  rulings  of  the  table  are 
of  appreciable  thickness  and  of  only  approximate  accuracy,  and 
since  values  intermediate  between  the  given  lines  can  often  only 
be  estimated,  and  may  include  fractional  parts  of  a  cent,  it  is 
evident  that  the  aggregate  cost  of  the  labor  charged  to  the  several 
shop-orders  for  any  one  day,  when  the  amounts  have  been  com- 
puted by  the  tables,  may  differ  from  the  total  cost  of  labor  for  the 
same  day  charged  on  the  pay  roll.  Though  the  errors  due  to 
these  inaccuracies  will  tend  to  balance  each  other,  there  will 
probably  always  be  more  or- less  difference  between  the  footings. 
The  error  should  be  corrected  by  altering  the  most  probable  items 
of  reported  cost,  instead  of  altering  the  pay  roll.  It  would  be 
foolish  to  restrict  one's  self  to  a  large  time  unit  for  the  mere  sake 
of  accuracy  in  an  immaterial  detail ;  one  too,  which,  like  much  of 
the  fine-spun  figuring  of  shop  accounts,  is  often  founded  on  un- 
substantial data.  For  example,  of  what  good  can  it  be  to  balance 
with  arithmetical  exactness  the  cost  of  jobs  on  which  no  provision 
has  been  made  for  reporting  anything  less  than  an  hour's  work? 

To  make  the  tables  as  accurate  as  possible  the  oblique  lines  are 
drawn  from  hour  to  hour  for  each  rate  instead  of  joining  the 
extreme  points  by  a  straight  line,  as  one  might  naturally  do. 

The  tables  described  have  been  tried  at  Benicia  Arsenal  with 
great  success;  many  men  return  their  time  by  the  quarter  hour 
and  no  trouble  is  found  in  reckoning  it.  When  time  costs,  as  it 
sometimes  does  here,  a  cent  a  minute,  it  seems  only  right  to  show 
how  that  time  has  been  spent  as  accurately  as  other  considerations 
of  economy  will  permit. 


270 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


No 

TiiME  Book  and  Return  of  Work  done  in ^^.^.^I':"^.i 

235                             j^              *  Michael  Lannigan 

S-O. 

Re.marks. 

I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

784 
617 

107 

387 

214 
213 
213 

49 

8 

4 
4 

8 

5 

S 

I 
2 

8 

8 

4 
10 

4 

A. 

8 

6". 

WooMridge  test 

^ 

Money  value  per  day 

8 

■S/3- 

8 

8 

>• 

a 

c 
3 

W3 

8 

0 

CO 

8 

- 

— 

Time  value  per  day 

" 

"    - 

"      - 

" 

<■ 

- 

*See  pp.  157-166. 

t  To  be  inserted  in  MS.  above  wherever  blank  space  permits. 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


271 


Shop 

.  Frankford  Arsenal.  . 

April 

1885 

Occupation  . 

Tool  maker 

»7 

18    19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

No.  of 
d'ys,&c. 

n 

c 
3 
0 

a 
< 

•c 

0. 

0 

P. 

a 
< 

II 
1- 

5. 

5. 

10  pes. 

$2  00 

p.  w. 

75 

$3  00 

3  00 

3  25 

25 

50 

A.  &  E.  M. 

0.  O-S. 
A.  &  E.  M. 
Ord.  Serv. 

D. 
D. 
D. 
C. 
C. 

D. 
D. 

5 
5 
3 

3 

I 

3 
3 

7  50 
I  00 

A.  &  E.  M. 
0.  O-S. 

8 

$18  50 

0 

00 

♦ 

App 
Ordnance  Service 

ropriaiions. 

t  Recapiiulatior 

$0  50 

to/- 

Statement  of  Expenditures. 

0  50 
25 

6  " 

C3 ; 

A.  &'E.M 1:1  7=: 

D3  I 

.^ 

Ds 

SiS    er. 

00 

$1 

8  50 

272  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

DUTIES    RELATING  TO    SERVICE   CARDS. 

Time  Book,  pages  zyo,  2yi. 

When  the  service  cards,  duly  stamped  by  the  foreman,  are 
received  by  the  cost  clerk,  he  sorts  thera  first  by  names  if  they 
require  it,  and  then  by  shop-orders,  and  enters  the  gross  results 
under  each  shop-order  on  the  time  book,  form  C,  Chapter  VI. 

Except  for  piece  workers,  the  time  book  carries  the  subdivision 
of  the  order  no  further ;  details  of  the  employment  must  be 
looked  for  on  the  service  cards. 

For  piece  workers  the  left-hand  margin  may  be  ruled,  so  as  to 
show  by  the  symbols  C,  O.,  N.  the  specific  operation  for  which  a 
special  price  is  paid.  As  a  guide  which  may  sometimes  be  use- 
ful, space  is  given  for  brief  remark  as  to  the  nature  of  the  order. 
These  will  be  rarely  used  after  the  clerks  become  accustomed  to 
the  symbolic  nomenclature. 

Piece  work  is  similarly  reported  except  that  piece  units  are 
reported  for  payment  instead  of  time  units. 

On  the  right  is  space  for  reference  to  the  appropriation  from 
which  the  work  done  is  to  be  paid,  and  also  a  column  for  indi- 
cating the  proper  subdivision  of  the  statement  of  expenditures. 
See  page  302. 

A  page  of  the  time  book  should  be  reserved  for  entering  service 
cards  relating  to  services  performed  outside  the  arsenal,  such  as 
traveling  expenses,  express  charges,  telegrams,  etc.    See  page  1 56. 

Cost  Sheet,  pages  2y6,  2yy. 

After  entering  the  time  the  cost  clerk  sorts  all  the  cards  by 
shop-orders  and  enters  the  total  value  of  the  services  under  each 
shop-order  opposite  its  number  on  the  margin  of  the  cost  sheet. 
The  shop-orders  are  grouped  together  according  to  appropria- 
tions from  which  payable,  and  the  total  for  services  under  each 
appropriation  entered  separately.  See  page  278.  The  cards  are 
then  filed  away  in  the  corresponding  pigeon  holes  until  required 
for  the  analysis  described  page  292. 

When  this  has  been  made,  the  cards  should  be  tied  up  into 
numbered  bundles  and  the  numbers  over  the  pigeon  holes  re- 
moved so  as  to  leave  them  available  for  other  orc^ers. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  273 

The  cost  sheet  is  a  valuable  device  which  I  have  borrowed  from 
Captain  Michaelis.  It  is  a  sort  of  morning  report  of  the  cost  of 
orders  up  to  date.  The  difference  between  his  plan  and  mine  is 
due  to  my  making  but  one  charge  on  either  the  material  or 
service  cards.  I  am  thus  able  to  shuffle  cards  belonging  to  the 
same  job  together,  and  to  enter  their  aggregate  results  directly  on 
the  cost  sheet.  By  the  other  plan  the  charges  for  labor  and 
material  had  to  be  consolidated  on  separate  sheets  and  then  com- 
bined on  the  value  sheet. 

Soldier  Labor. 

When  soldiers  are  working  in  the  shops  of  an  arsenal  they 
should  be  rated  at  the  wages  as  citizens  of  the  same  ability 
similarly  employed.  This  will  avoid  the  perplexing  differences 
arising  in  reporting  the  cost  of  work  done  sometimes  by  enlisted, 
and  sometimes  by  civil  labor,  when  no  price  is  charged  for  the 
soldier's  labor  and  full  price  is  charged  for  the  civilian's.  But 
since  the  effect  of  so  charging  the  soldier's  time  will  be  to  increase 
the  aggregate  sum  charged  for  labor  beyond  that  actually  paid, 
and  so  lead  to  discrepancies  where  strict  equivalencies  should  be 
the  rule,  the  following  course  is  advised: 

After  charging  the  soldier's  time  to  the  job,  credit  the  standing 
order  for  the  maintenance  of  the  arsenal  and  military  post  with 
the  full  amount  so  charged.  (Benicia  Arsenal,  shop-order  No.  I, 
and  Frankford  Arsenal,  shop-order  No.  215.     See  page  143.) 

In  this  way  the  cost  of  the  work  will  be  kept  uniform  ;  the 
soldier's  pride  will  not  be  hurt  by  evidence  that  his  labor  is  thought 
of  no  account ;  and  the  one  great  object  toward  which  the  system 
tends,  to  make  the  cost  of  work  equal  the  sum  of  all  the  expend- 
itures upon  it,  will  be  approached.  This  idea  I  also  owe  to 
Captain  Michaelis. 

To  assist  in  carrying  it  out  it  would  be  well  to  have  service 
cards  of  a  different  color  for  enlisted  workmen.     The  peculiar 
conditions  of  this  case  make  it  an  exception  to  the  rule  else- 
where affirmed,  that  labor  can  never  be  a  credit. 
18 


2  74  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

DUTIES   RELATING  TO   MATERIAL   CARDS. 
Entering  on  Cost  Sheet. 

At  the  end  of  the  day,  or  early  the -next  morning,  the  cost  clerk 
should  sort  the  cards  received,  according  to  shop-orders  to  which 
charges  are  made,  sum  up  their  values  and  enter  them  on  the 
cost  sheet. 

Forwarding  Cards. 

He  should  then  stamp  the  cards  "  Entered  by  cost  clerk,"  and 
forward  all  those  bearing  entries  in  the  stock  section  to  the  stock 
clerk,  except  when  they  already  bear  his  entry  stamp. 

Filing  Cards. 

The  remaining  cards  go  to  the  pigeon  holes  corresponding  to 
the  orders  to  which  charges  or  single  credits  are  made. 

Duplicate  Cards. 

When  a  card  contains  a  charge  to  one  order  and  a  credit  to 
another,  a  duplicate  card  is  filed  in  the  pigeon  hole  to  which  the 
credit  belongs.  The  duplicate  may  be  printed  or  marked  so  as 
to  be  distinguished  from  those  received  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
business,  and  the  original  should  be  checked  so  as  to  prevent  re- 
duplication. The  duplicate  need  only  contain  the  most  essential 
parts  of  the  original. 

Reporting  Product. 

It  has  been  explained  how  the  product  of  an  order  is  reported 
on  the  material  card  as  the  order  is  completed  piecemeal,  page 
195.  Such  cards  are  to  be  known  by  being  to  the  credit  of  the 
order  under  which  the  work  is  done,  by  having  the  price  in  blank, 
and  also  by  referring  to  fabrication.  They  are  to  be  filed  by 
themselves  at  the  bottom  of  the  pile  of  cards  in  each  pigeon  hole. 
When  the  job  is  completed,  and  its  cost  is  to  be  reported,  they 
show  just  what  it  has  accomplished. 

It  is  far  safer,  and  every  way  better  to  report  in  this  way  the 
product  of  an  order,  than  to  assume  that  the  exact  number  of 
articles  required  by  the  order  ticket  has  been  made.  It  was  once 
tried  to  report  product  on  the  order  ticket,  indicating  departures 
from  the  letter  of  the  order  on  the  back  of  the  ticket.     But  this 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  275 

prevented  piecemeal  deliveries,  and  was  also  objectionable  in  that  it 
confused  the  order  simple,  and  the  result  of  that  order,  the  product 

When  products  thus  reported  piecemeal,  say  parts  of  harness, 
are  afterwards  assembled  into  sets,  material  cards  representing  the 
transfer  should  be  made  out. 

A  note  upon  the  card  will  call  the  stock  clerk's  attention  to  it, 
so  that  he  will  issue  on  his  journal  from  the  corresponding  return 
"by  transfer"  the  number  of  components  required  to  complete 
the  set.      These  he  will  ascertain  from  the  standard  lists,  etc. 

This  course  will  permit  an  immediate  record  of  all  fabrications 
to  be  made  without  requiring  the  filling  out  of  a  separate  card 
for  each  class  of  components  assembled. 

The  contrary  course  in  the  present  system  frequently  leads  to 
confusion  ;  as  a  rule,  nothing  is  reported  till  all  is  done,  so  that 
the  progress  made  in  filling  an  order  requires  a  special  effort  to 
determine  it.     Yet  this  knowledge  is  constantly  required. 

CASH  ACCOUNTABILITY. 
We  come  now  to  that  portion  of  our  trusteeship  with  which  our 
accountability  under  different  appropriations  is  concerned.  See 
pages  34,  36.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  dwell  too  strongly  on 
the  idea  that  the  only  justification  for  any  expenditure  of  money 
or  material  is  the  execution  of  the  will  of  Congress  as  expressed 
by  law.  The  law  is  generally  in  the  form  of  an  appropriation,  the 
conformity  with  which  of  every  expenditure  it  is  the  main  object 
of  our  cash  accounts  to  demonstrate.  So  that  whatever  forms 
minor  accounts  may  assume,  they  are  useless  for  accountability 
unless  they  tend  to  combine  truly  under  each  appropriation  the 
expenses  which  it  authorizes.  There  is  probably  no  phase  of  the 
proposed  system  which  illustrates  better  how  such  complex  re- 
sponsibilities as  those  imposed  by  the  strict  requirements  of  this 
trusteeship  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  unrestricted  employment  of 
the  resources  of  the  arsenal  on  the  other  hand,  may  be  easily  and 
accurately  met. 

The  Cost  Sheet ;  Daily. 

Columns  A,  B  and  C  are  filled  by  direct  summation  of  the 
cards,  sorted  by  shop-orders  to  which  a  charge  is  made.     The 


276 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Proposed  Daily  Cost  Sheet 

FOR 

Watervliet 

Shop- 
order. 

Appropria- 
tion. 

Objects 

Services. 

Matenal. 

Shop  ex- 
penses a  3c. 
per  hour. 

Gross  cost 

Time 

$ 

c.         $ 

c. 

$ 

c. 

$ 

c. 

720 

838 

772 
836 
837 
845 
847 

0.  &-  OS. 

R  b.  cartridges  &^c 

..3 
10 

625 
8 
3 

A. 

118 

I 

10 

so 

200 
7 

500 
C. 

00 
00 

3 

18 

D. 

39 
30 

75 
24 
09 

321 
8 

17s 

500 

4 

I 
E. 

49 

A.&'E.M. 

ii^fOOQ /fiction primers  . . 
400,000  sftort  primers 

99 

119 

60 

156 
4 

25 
00 

00 
00 
24 

Dynajiio  machine 

2  /  p.  drilling  machities. . 

161      37 

B. 

INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


277 


Arsenal,  _ ^^^!^!'A ,  1884, 

{\£/'  ^V) 

Per  last  report. 

To 

-day. 

Total 
credits. 

Net  cost. 

Remarks. 

Total  cost. 

Balance 
available. 

Total  cost. 

Balance 
available. 

$ 

c. 

$ 

c. 

67 

$ 

c. 

$ 

c. 

%        c. 

% 

c 

♦116 

82 

204 

1,079 

46 

18,920 

54 

1,284 

13 

18,715 

87 

8 

99 

300 

24 

1,699 

76 

309 

23 

2,690 

77 

Remittance  $1,000. 

I 

37 

173 

63 

11,250 

00 

173 

63 

11,076 

37 

.... 

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00 

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00 

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00 

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00 

3 

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24 

2 

76 

Completed. 
No  work  done. 

10 

00 

Cr.8 

79 

595 

35 

4 

65 

5S6 

S6 

13 

44 

Completed,  charges  and  bal- 
ance transferred  to  S.  O 
213. 

F. 

G. 

H. 

I. 

J. 

K. 

See  page  279. 


278  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

shop-orders  should  be  grouped  according  to  appropriations  from 
which  payable. 

Service  cards  relating  to  large  shop-orders  should  be  re-sorted 
according  to  rates  of  wages  ;  the  product  of  each  rate  by  the  time 
gives  the  amount  for  that  rate,  and  the  sum  of  the  times  and 
amounts  the  data  for  A  and  B.  The  cost  of  services  under  each 
appropriation  should  be  indicated  separately,  as  in  red  ink. 

Column  D  is  determined  by  a  fixed  percentage  of  A,  See  page 
166.  E  is  equal  to  B  plus  C  plus  D ;  F  is  taken  from  the  daily 
credit  sheet,  which  see;  G  is  equal  to  E  minus  F;  H  and  I,  the 
sum  of  which  is  equal  to  the  allotment,  were  entered  from  the 
last  report;  J  is  equal  to  G  plus  H ;   K  is  equal  to  I  minus  G. 

No  charge  for  shop  expenses  is  made  to  the  standing  orders, 
as  they  are  the  very  source  and  cause  of  this  expense. 

Charges  other  than  by  regular  expenditures  reported  on  the 
cards  should  be  explained  by  remarks. 

When  an  order  is  completed,  a  remark  to  that  effect  should  be 
made  and  the  order  dropped  from  future  cost  sheets.  Incomplete 
orders  should  be  continued  so  that  those  on  which  no  work  has 
been  done  may  be  determined  by  mere  inspection  of  the  cost 
sheet  for  the  day. 

In  the  column  of  remarks  shouid  be  noted  the  transfer  of  the 
cost  of  a  given  order  to  another  order.  The  occasion  for  this 
will  arise  when,  for  the  sake  of  explicitness,  a  special  order  is 
given  for  work  which  might  be  done  under  a  standing  order,  or 
when  it  becomes  expedient  to  transfer  the  cost  t6  another  appro- 
priation. In  the  first  case  suppose  order  No.  999  to  require  the 
erecting  of  certain  machinery,  say  a  gas  works,  the  cost  of  which 
it  is  desired  to  know  specifically.  When  completed,  the  cost  is 
ordered  pro-rated  between  orders  219  P  and  220  P  on  the  next 
day's  report.  A  remark  on  each  sheet  should  explain  the 
transfer. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  279 

The  cards  belonging  to  the  order  transferred  should  be  filed 
separately  until  needed  for  the  analysis  of  the  order  receiving  the 
transfer. 

Note. — No  attempt  is  made  to  analyze  the  gross  cost  reported  on  the  cost  sheet. 
Its  object  is  only  to  determine  daily  balances  and  to  give  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  work. 

The  analysis  is  an  entirely  independent  matter,  and  the  methods  are  hereafter 
described  which  permit  it  to  be  done  thoroughly. 


28o 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


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INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  281 

The  Credit  Sheet;  Daily. 

a.  Credits  for  material. 

After  the  debit  entries  have  been  made  on  the  cost  sheet,  the 
material  cards  on  which  credits  appear  are  shuffled  so  as  to  bring 
together  all  those  containing  credits  to  the  same  shop-order,  and 
these  are  further  combined  according  to  the  orders  to  which 
charges  were  made.  These  are  then  entered  as  shown  :  the  orders 
to  which  charged,  the  number  of  the  card  and  the  name  of  the 
material  being  given  to  assist  in  tracing  the  card  if  the  entry 
should  ever  have  to  be  verified. 

b.  Credits  for  shop  expenses. 

Shop  expenses  are  credited  only  to  certain  designated  standing 
orders  determined  by  the  character  of  the  order  bearing  the 
charge.  The  appropriations  to  be  charged  or  credited  are 
determined  by  the  numbers  of  the  corresponding  shop-orders 
as  shown  in  the  example. 

The  recapitulation  of  these  amounts  determines  the  balances  to 
be  entered  on  the  monthly  Recovery  Record. 

Proofs. 

The  sum  of  the  shop  expenses  must  agree  with  that  given  by 
the  cost  sheet  for  the  same  day. 

In  the  recapitulation  the  sum  of  the  total  credits  and  those  of 
the  Dr.  and  Cr.  entries  under  appropriations  must  all  three  be 
equal  to  each  other. 

The  sum  of  the  balances  in  each  column  of  the  recapitulation 
must  agree. 

The  credits  for  material  cannot  be  proved. 

The  Recovery  Record  page  28^  (proposed). 

The  balances  due  to  or  from  appropriations  as  shown  by  the 
recapitulation  on  the  credit  sheet  are  entered  here  daily,  and  the 
resulting  monthly  balances  are  distributed  according  to  the  man- 
ner explained  page  286. 

The  "  No.,  etc.,"  in  the  blank  column  refers  to  the  employee  on 
whose  page  of  the  time  book  the  counter-charge  will  be  found. 
This  paper  is  kept  in  the  cost  clerk's  office.  It  may  be  in  book 
form. 


282  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

The  Appropriation  Sheet  (proposed). 

We  have  seen  that  all  expenditures  of  labor  and  material  must 
be  charged  to  some  shop-order.  By  further  requiring  that  all 
shop-orders  be  referred  to  some  appropriation  we  make  sure  that 
all  expenditures  shall  ultimately  be  directed  to  the  most  probable 
appropriation.  See  also  page  284.  The  cost  sheet  prevents  us 
from  overstepping  our  estimates ;  the  appropriation  sheet  per- 
forms the  same  office  for  our  allotments  of  appropriations,  and 
permits  every  penny  appropriated  to  be  spent  deliberately,  eco- 
nomically and  legally.  This  is  the  climax  of  the  system  as  regards 
cash  accountability. 

Remarks. 

As  explained  page  289,  there  is  a  well-defined  difference 
between  material  purchased  and  that  expended ;  this  sheet  takes 
notice  only  of  that  just  purchased.  The  expenditure  of  its  value 
is  reported  on  the  cost  sheet. 

The  miscellaneous  debits  and  credits  allow  for  the  entry  of 
remittances  and  for  the  transfer  of  balances  shown  by  the  re- 
capitulation on  the  daily  credit  sheet. 

The  gross  balance  on  the  last  day  of  the  month  should  agree 
with  that  shown  by  the  abstract  of  disbursements. 

When  services  and  material  previously  classed  among  liabilities 
are  paid  for,  their  previous  estimated  cost  should  be  deducted 
from  the  next  report  of  liabilities. 

The  gross  balances  and  the  corresponding  totals  are  entered  in 
red  ink,  so  as  to  prevent  their  addition  while  computing  the  net 
balances  given  below. 

The  amount  of  services  under  each  appropriation  is  obtained  by 
grouping  shop-orders  under  appropriations  as  explained  page  272. 

The  miscellaneous  balances  are  given,  one  way  or  the  other,  by 
the  daily  credit  sheet. 

This  paper  should  be  made  out  by  the  chief  clerk  and  the  pay 
clerk,  jointly.  The  form  given  is  for  a  daily  report,  but  it  may, 
like  many  of  the  other  papers,  be  made  weekly  or  monthly,  as 
the  Commanding  Officer  may  require. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


283 


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284  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

System  of  Recoveries  (proposed). 

(a.)  Recovery  of  Material. 

We  have  seen  the  advantage  of  holding  all  material  subject  to 
expenditure  under  some  shop-order;  similar  reasons  require  that 
all  material  in  store  shall  be  held  under  the  appropriation  by 
authority  of  which  it  was  most  probably  procured. 

Inasmuch  as  a  due  regard  for  economy  and  convenience  will 
often  require  the  expenditure  on  one  order  of  material  which  has 
been  bought  cheaply,  because  in  large  quantities,  for  another 
purpose  under  a  different  appropriation,  and  since  the  appropria- 
tion thus  borrowed  from  should  have  the  means  of  being  credited 
with  the  value  of  what  has  been  so  taken,  the  following  course 
is  recommended : 

When  material  is  received  into  store  by  purchase,  let  the  store- 
keeper mark  it  with  the  designation  of  the  appropriation  from 
which  it  was  bought;  this  he  will  find  on  the  back  of  the  card, 
placed  there  when  the  material  was  ordered.  When  future  issues 
of  this  material  are  made  to  foremen,  the  storekeeper  should  mark 
the  card  to  the  credit  of  the  appropriation  from  which  the  material 
was  bought.  This  he  will  do  in  the  cost  section,  where  by  using 
the  initials  of  the  appropriation  no  confusion  with  the  shop-order 
symbols  can  arise. 

Material  which  has  come  into  store  by  fabrication,  inventory, 
etc.,  or  has  been  received  by  invoice  from  other  posts,  should, 
when  taken  out  for  current  service,  be  credited  to  the  most  probable 
appropriation  under  disbursement  at  the  arsenal  in  question.  The 
number  of  such  appropriations  is  generally  limited,  and  little 
trouble  will  be  found  in  determining  the  right  one.  Strictly 
military  supplies  might  be  credited  to  Ordnance  Service,  and 
materials  from  Part  II  to  the  principal  aporooriations  disbursed 
in  manufactures. 

No'iE. — When  material  in  current  service  is  similarly  taken,  the  shop-order  unaer 
which  it  has  been  held  will  receive  a  similar  credit.  In  due  course  this  credit  will  be 
transferred  to  the  proper  appropriation,  so  that  in  the  end  the  same  result  will  be 
attained  as  when  the  material  taken  from  store  was  directly  credited  to  the  appropria- 
tion from  which  it  was  bought.  All  depends  upon  keeping  the  orders  under  their 
corresponding  appropriations. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


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286  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

These  credits  having  been  collated  on  the  credit  sheet  for  the 
day,  are  consolidated  monthly  on  the  Recovery  Record,  and  an 
equivalent  value  of  labor  which  would  be  normally  charged  to  the 
appropriation  receiving  the  credit  is  charged  to  the  appropriation 
under  which  the  special  work  is  done.  We  thus  repay,  say 
Ordnance  Service,  for  the  material  which  it  has  contributed  to  the 
special  job  by  transferring  to  the  special  job  a  portion  of  the 
charges  for  labor  normally  payable  out  of  Ordnance  Service.  The 
account  is  squared  by  a  counter-charge  for  labor  rather  than  for 
material,  because  a  more  exact  distribution  of  the  amounts  may 
thus  be  made. 

The  result  of  this  course  will  be  that  the  same  work  will,  when- 
ever repeated,  be  consistent  in  its  cost,  whether  all  of  its  material 
has  to  be  bought  for  it,  or  whether  it  so  happens  that  it  may  be 
supplied  in  whole  or  in  part  out  of  material  on  hand ;  and  this 
cost,  truly  reported,  will  be  that  by  which  the  appropriation 
authorizing  the  expenditure  is  diminished.  The  following  ex- 
ample illustrates  the  idea: 

We  make  an  estimate  for  100,000  friction  primers  based  upon 
our  knowledge  of  the  true  cost  of  previous  work  of  the  same  kind. 
In  setting  about  the  work  we  find  sufficient  metal  on  hand  of  the 
proper  thickness  which  has  become  obsolete  from  a  change  in  the 
model  of  the  cartridge  for  which  it  was  originally  bought.  If  we 
use  this  without  charging  it  to  the  primers  they  become  absurdly 
cheap  and  their  reported  cost  becomes  misleading.  If  we  do 
charge  it  and  do  nothing  more,  the  saving  is  not  apparent ;  but 
if  we  apply  the  saving  to  relieve  the  cartridge  appropriation,  we 
shall  have  more  money  for  making  cartridges,  which  will  be  fair. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  credit  need  not  diminish  the 
reported  cost  of  the  cartridges,  since  questions  of  cost  are  inde- 
pendent of  appropriations  and  disbursements.  See  page  289. 
But  we  shall  be  able  to  make  more  cartridges  at  the  same  price 
for  the  same  appropriation. 

The  only  alternatives  to  the  course  recommended  are:  ist,  to 
buy  specially  for  every  job  the  material  required  for  it,  regardless 
of  whether  it  is  already  on  hand  and  can  be  spared  for  it  or  not ; 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  287 

2d,  to  count  material  on  hand  as  costing  nothing  to  the  appropria- 
tion, making  estimates  only  for  supplementary  funds  for  actt^^ 
expenditure. 

The  first  alternative  is  cumbersome  and  would  often  be  extrav- 
agant, and  the  second  is  misleading  and,  when  the  material 
employed  was  bought  under  a  different  appropriation  from  that 
under  which  it  is  consumed,  would  be  unfair,  as  it  would  rob  one 
appropriation  for  the  sake  of  helping  another.  Such  a  practice 
often  repeated  would  increase  unduly  the  apparent  cost  for  mate- 
rial, say  of  cartridges,  if  this  cost,  instead  of  being  finally  deter- 
mined by  the  indications  of  the  cost  sheet,  as  is  here  proposed, 
were  arrived  at  from  the  ratio  of  product  to  appropriation,  as  was 
done  at  the  National  Armory  in  1878. 

When  the  material  on  hand  is  held  under  the  appropriation 
under  which  it  is  to  be  consumed,  there  is  no  transfer  between 
appropriations,  and  the  adoption  of  the  second  alternative  would 
do  no  wrong  if  the  material  said  to  be  available  were  always 
actually  used  as  intended  in  the  estimate.  But  we  can  never  be 
sure  of  anything  in  advance,  and  hence  I  believe  that  the  safest 
general  rule  would  be  to  make  estimates  for  funds  according  to 
the  full  estimated  cost  of  the  work  and  to  apply  the  saving  due  to 
the  use  of  surplus  material  on  hand  towards  continuing  the 
accumulation  of  a  similar  surplus  as  a  timely  provision  for  future 
emergencies. 

There  are  certain  conditions  in  which  this  procedure  would 
appear  absurd,  but  notwithstanding,  I  believe  that  the  general  rule 
would  give  the  best  results.  For  example,  let  us  say  that  to  make 
certain  repairs  to  quarters,  $100  in  funds  will  suffice,  provided 
that  material  on  hand  be  used,  the  material  having  been  bought 
long  ago,  say  for  gun  carriages.  Wooden  carriages  have  become 
obsolete,  and  the  timber  which  it  is  proposed  to  use  has  been 
stored  so  long  as  to  be  in  dire  danger  of  dry  rot ;  there  is  there- 
fore every  reason  that  the  timber  should  be  used  on  the  quarters, 
provided  the  gun  carriage  account  be  indemnified.  This  I  would 
do  by  estimating  the  repairs  at  their  full  cost,  which  the  Chief  of 
Ordnance  should  know  before  reducing  thus  the  general  resources 
of  the  department,  and  recovering  from  the  appropriation  for 


288  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Repair  of  Arsenals  the  value  of  the  timber  actually  used  with 
which  to  purchase,  say  steel  plates  suitable  for  modern  carriage 
work,  or  to  be  simply  held  to  the  credit  of  the  appropriation  for 
such  other  disposition  as  may  be  required. 

In  this  view  material  is  a  continuing  form  of  the  money  originally 
appropriated,  which  happens  to  be  on  hand  because  it  can  be 
no  longer  returned  to  the  treasury,  as  is  done  with  unexpended 
balances  of  money  proper  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year.  Advantage 
cannot  be  derived  from  this  accident  otherwise  than  by  changing 
the  form  in  which  the  money  is  held  to  one  more  suitable  to  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  appropriated,  under  the  general  dis- 
cretionary authority  by  which  it  was  first  procured ;  otherwise 
we  defeat  the  intentions  of  Congress,  which,  in  appropriating  for 
the  purchase  of  material  for  gun  carriages  in  one  year,  could  never 
have  intended  it  to  be  applied  to  the  repairs  of  quarters  in  another 
year.  The  only  escape  from  this  position  seems  to  be  that  the 
conclusion  of  the  fiscal  year  bars  all  further  responsibility  under 
appropriations  and  leaves  all  unused  material  open  to  whatever 
application  may  be  desired.  If  this  be  so,  why  wait  till  the  30th 
of  June  to  put  such  doctrine  into  practice? 

I  owe  this  extension  of  the  earlier  principle  of  recovering  shop 
expenses,  see  next  article,  to  Captain  Michaelis,  who  used  both 
methods  to  advantage  while  applying  the  system  at  Frankford 
Arsenal. 

(b.)  Recovery  of  Shop  Expenses. 

The  charge  for  current  shop  expenses  made  to  any  job  is 
similarly  a  credit  to  the  most  probable  appropriation.  By  the 
methods  described  page  149,  these  have  been  directly  charged  to 
the  special  job  receiving  them  whenever  it  was  possible  to  place 
them  at  the  moment  the  charge  was  incurred.  But  there  are  many 
expenses  in  the  nature  of  "fixed  charges"  which  can  only  be 
determined  annually  by  the  methods  shown  pages  73,  166,  217. 
These  are  repaid  to  the  proper  appropriations  by  means  similar  to 
those  just  described  for  material.  See  illustration  with  example 
of  credit  sheet. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  289 

RECONCILING   COSTS    WITH    DISBURSEMENTS. 

I  have  vainly  tried  to  find  some  simple  current  method  of 
reconciling  the  cost  sheet  with  the  cash  accounts,  since  this  would 
establish  the  aggregate  truth  of  the  cost  sheet  before  the  highest 
court  of  audit  known  to  military  accountability.  I  am  convinced, 
not  only  that  this  is  impossible,  unless  either  the  papers  are  very 
much  complicated  or  unless  substantial  truth  is  neglected  for  the 
sake  of  striking  a  balance  ;  but  I  also  believe  that  the  same  result 
is  indirectly  attainable  by  other  means  already  described. 

The  trouble  is:  ist,  that  we  are  always  paying  in  one  month 
for  material  which  we  expend  in  another ;  2d,  that  we  do  not 
necessarily  expend  at  once  all  that  we  pay  for;  3d,  that  we  can- 
not always  tell  whether  what  we  are  expending  has  been  paid  for 
or  not,  still  less  whether  it  has  been  paid  for  in  the  time  covered 
jointly  by  the  two  sets  of  accounts  or  previously. 

There  would  be  no  trouble  in  accomplishing  the  reconciliation 
if  material  were  like  labor,  which  is  expended  as  soon  as  received, 
being  therefore  always  a  charge  and  never  a  credit,  and  which  is 
paid  for  monthly  in  the  period  covered  by  the  joint  accounts.  In 
such  a  case  the  monthly  cost  sheet  would  be  a  repetition  of  the 
Abstract  of  Disbursements,  having  its  totals  under  each  appropria- 
tion distributed  according  to  a  different  list  of  agencies,  the  shop- 
orders  serially  arranged. 

But  in  regard  to  expressing  the  relation  between  the  payment 
for  material  and  its  expenditure,  the  following  table  shows  how- 
various  its  conditions  may  be  ; 


< 

w  \ 
< 


A.  Paid  for  in  period  in  which  expended. 

fi.  paid  for  previously. 

B.  Not  paid  for  as  above,  but< 

1^2.   paid  for  afterward. 

C.  Not  expended  in  period  in  which  paid  for. 


The  variety  of  these  conditions  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  any 
one  of  them  may  be  only  true  as  to  part  of  the  material  in  ques- 

19 


290  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

tion,  and  that  dififerent  lots  of  material  of  the  same  name  may  be 
in  all  of  them  at  once. 

In  all  such  cases  the  old  question  between  clerks  and  foremen 
will  arise :  How  is  the  foreman  to  know  whether  the  material  he 
is  using  has  been  paid  for  or  not?  and  how  is  the  clerk  to  know 
to  which  of  the  classes  named  the  material  which  the  foreman  has 
been  expending  belongs?  Then,  if  the  clerk  could  know,  how  is 
he  to  express  the  facts  without  greatly  elaborating  the  accounts? 

The  attempt  to  distinguish  these  differences,  if  carried  out  con- 
scientiously, would  paralyze  the  manufacturer;  and,  if  achieved, 
would  only  prove  the  aggregate  truth  of  the  cost  sheet.  The 
distribution  of  the  charges  within  this  aggregate  will  always,  what- 
ever precautions  are  adopted,  be  within  the  discretion  of  the 
immediate  authority, 

I  discuss  this  at  length  because  it  has  been  from  the  first  the 
goal  at  which  I  aimed,  and  because  it  has  attracted  the  attention 
of  others  as  well  as  myself. 

I  find  the  proof  of  the  aggregate  truth  of  the  cost  sheet  in  the 
following  considerations : 

A.  As  to  services.  This  is  proved  by  direct  comparison  with 
the  aggregate  disbursements  for  services  on  the  abstract  of  dis- 
bursements. 

B.  As  to  material.  This  is  proved  by  the  two  necessities: 
first,  of  accounting  for  all  material  received,  whether  paid  for  or 
not;  and  second,  of  charging  to  some  shop-order  all  material 
expended  or  subject  to  expenditure,  whether  by  accident  or  design. 

It  would  of  course  be  quite  possible  to  strike  a  yearly  balance 
sheet  debiting  all  remittances  and  the  aggregate  value  of  the  last 
inventory  and  crediting  cash  balances,  special  expenditures  not 
for  manufactures,  and  the  aggregate  of  the  present  inventory. 
The  balances,  generally  speaking,  should  be  the  aggregate  cost 
of  the  fabrications  at  their  reported  prices,  together  with  a  cor- 
rection to  the  account  of  shop  expenses  which  should  be  dealt 
with  as  described  page  217. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  291 

Having  in  view  so  comprehensive  an  auditing  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  arsenal,  the  inventory  would  acquire  an  importance 
which  the  use  now  made  of  it  does  not  justify. 


292  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

ANALYSIS    OF   COST    (PROPOSED). 

The  analysis  need  be  carried  no  further  than  the  circumstances 
of  each  case  require ;  but  the  elements  of  Plant  and  Work  should 
always  be  separated.  The  examples  given  show  to  what  extent 
it  is  possible  to  carry  the  analysis.  In  the  tables  the  full  sym- 
bols described  in  Chap.  IX  are  not  given;  viz.,  A;  F,  &c.,  repre- 
sent any  objects,  and  i  ;    2  ;    3,  &c.,  any  operations. 

We  begin  by  treating  separately  the  accounts  for  services  and 
material  as  independent  elements  in  the  result  shown  by  the  con- 
solidated analysis. 

(a.)  Services. 

We  sort  the  service  cards  first,  according  to  P.,  A.,  T.  and  W. ; 
or  simply  as  shown,  according  to  P.  and  W.,  omitting  the  distinc- 
tion between  A.,  T.  and  W.,  see  page  102  ;  then,  each  class  accord- 
ing to  objects,  and  each  object  according  to  operations.  The 
cards  belonging  to  each  operation  are  then  divided  according  as 
the  services  were  paid  for  by  the  day,  piece  or  job,  and  each 
resulting  pile  of  cards  is  re-sorted  according  to  rates  of  wages, 
i.  e.,  prices  per  unit. 

Note. — Job  is  a  term  here  used  for  outside  services,  piece  and  day  relate  to  work 
within  the  arsenal. 

We  can  then  sum  up  the  time  of  each  grade  of  labor  and  enter 
it  with  its  aggregate  cost.  Next  after  the  day  work  comes  the 
piece  work  on  the  same  operations  similarly  arranged,  but  having 
also  in  brackets  the  time  reported  spent  on  the  operation  by  the 
daily  service  cards.  See  page  154.  Job  work  is  like  piece  work, 
but  no  time  is  reported. 

Having  completed  the  entries  under  any  one  operation,  we  ex- 
tend their  amounts  under  N.  This  gives  both  the  aggregate  time 
spent  on  that  operation  and  the  cost  of  it,  and  serves  to  answer 
many  important  questions  which  would  be  more  often  asked  if 
there  were  any  ready  way  of  answering  them  truthfully. 

The  total  time  and  cost  of  the  operations  on  one  object  being 
entered  under  O.  gives  the  totals  for  that  object,  and  so  on.  The 
remark  about  photographs  is  supposed  to  refer  to  the  special 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


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294  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

employment  of  an  outside  expert  who  is  paid  for  his  services  by 
the  job.  The  illustration  is  not  fortunate,  as  it  implies  a  charge 
for  material. 

(b.)  Material. 

The  analysis  of  material  is  conducted  on  the  same  general  plan. 
The  material  cards  are  sorted  down  to  operations  and  those  of 
the  same  name  and  price  are  combined  and  entered  as  shown. 
When  credit  entries  are  shown,  the  quantity  credited  may  be 
deducted  without  comment  if  at  the  same  price  as  that  charged ; 
if  at  a  different  price,  a  separate  entry  should  be  made  and  the 
cost  deducted  before  extension  to  the  columns  headed  N.,  O.,  C. 
If  the  credit  entry  should  exceed  the  debit  entry,  the  excess  should 
be  noted  in  the  remarks  and  be  deducted  from  the  total  under  C. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  charges  for  material  herein  refer 
only  to  material  expressly  procured  for  any  one  object  or  opera- 
tion. There  is  no  cumulative  charge  for  material  in  transit  through 
the  different  stages  of  manufacture.  To  determine  the  cost  of 
material  up  to  a  certain  point,  we  must  include  all  charges  upon 
the  different  components  of  the  object  in  question  by  a  process 
which  is  quite  the  reverse  of  the  analysis  of  which  we  are  treating. 
This  applies  to  the  charges  for  services  as  well. 

(c.)  Shop  Expenses. 

If  these  are  uniform  throughout  the  arsenal,  see  page  2i8,  they 
can  be  determined  in  gross  or  for  each  operation  from  the  time 
given  in  the  analysis  of  services. 

But  if  they  vary  for  the  different  departments,  in  case  a  given 
operation  on  the  same  object  has  been  performed  in  more  than 
one  department,  which  is  very  improbable,  the  service  cards  be- 
longing to  that  operation  should  be  further  sorted  according  to 
departments,  and  the  shop  expenses  for  each  department  entered 
in  the  column  of  cost.  The  nature  of  the  charge  should  be 
entered,  by  remark  in  the  first  column,  as  "  shop  expenses." 

When  a  standing  order  is  analyzed,  the  credits  it  has  received 
for  shop  expenses  charged  to  orders  under  different  appropriations, 
should  be  deducted  from  the  gross  cost  of  services  in  order  to 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


295 


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296  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

make  it  agree  with  the  cost  record.  These  credits  were  earned 
by  no  object  or  operation,  being  merely  assigned  as  convenience 
required.     See  page  281. 

Consolidated  Analysis. 

This  gives  one  a  general  view  of  the  entire  subject,  particularly 
with  regard  to  the  quantity  and  kind  of  labor  required  for  future 
work  of  tlie  same  kind. 

To  compile  this  analysis  we  first  sort  the  service  cards  accord- 
ing to  shops,  then  according  to  nature  of  service,  then  according 
to  P.  and  W.  (A.  and  T.  also,  if  desired),  and  then  according  to 
rates  of  wages,  say  per  day.  In  each  resulting  category  we  add 
up  the  time,  reduce  it  to  days  and  enter  it  as  shown.  Shop 
expenses  may  be  bulked  as  shown,  or  entered  as  described  above. 
The  same  form  may  be  used  for  comparing  total  day  work  and 
piece  work ;  so  also  of  the  other  forms,  which  will  be  found 
adapted  to  a  variety  of  comparisons. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


297 


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298  PROPOSED  SYSTEM, 

MISCELLANEOUS   PAPERS. 
Pay  Book  (proposed). 

(a.)  For  day  workers :  By  adding  vertically  the  time  units 
reported  each  day  on  the  time  book  the  time  value  of  the  day's 
work  may  be  determined  for  each  man  and  its  money  value  be 
posted  into  a  book.  Form  A,  page  60,  ruled  for  values  instead 
of  for  time,  would  serve  this  purpose. 

(b.)  For  piece  workers  and  for  outside  services  a  similar  course 
may  be  followed,  posting  directly  the  money  value  of  the  units 
made  in  the  pay  book. 

(c.)  For  men  working  partly  by  the  piece  and  partly  by  the  day : 
The  money  value  of  their  earnings  should  be  similarly  entered. 

Proof. 

The  sum  of  the  daily  earnings  on  the  pay  book  should  agree 

with  that  of  services  charged  to  shop-orders  on  the  day's  cost 

sheet,  and  with  the  difference  between  the  total  daily  pay-roll  and 

the  aggregate  value  of  the  absent  cards  for  the  day.    See  page  153. 

Use. 

At  the  end  of  the  month  the  daily  earnings  may  be  added  up 
transversely  and  the  denominations  required  to  pay  the  corre- 
sponding workmen  be  extended  as  shown  in  the  example. 

This  plan  permits  the  money  needed  for  the  pay-roll  to  be 
conveniently  and  accuratelydetermined  without  necessarily  waiting 
for  the  computation  of  all  the  contributory  items.  These  have 
been  proved  from  day  to  day  by  the  operation  of  sorting  the 
service  cards. 

By  adding  a  place  for  signatures  the  pay  book  may  be  used 
for  the  retained  copy  of  the  pay-roll.  This  idea  I  owe  to  Cap- 
tain Michaclis. 

Return  of  Hired  Men  (noiv  required). 

This  is  intended  principally  to  classify  the  pay-roll  according 
to  appropriations  from  which  payable.  To  compile  it  the  cost 
clerk  goes  over  the  time  book  and  indicates  the  appropriation 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


299 


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ro             N                                CO       M 

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d 

Per  year. 
1,650  1  00 

4     00 

2       50 

iY'  "work. 

■w- 

•paXoidui 

3sXeq 

S:           u^                       vo 

How  employed. 

(State  here  the  specific  du- 
ties of  each  man.) 

Superintending  work 
in  harness  shop 

Repairing  siege  car- 
riages, makitig  band 
saw  blades,  parts  for 
Catling  carriages  &^ 
incidental  repairs. . . 

Making  boxes  for  pack- 

0      ! 

0% 

Chief  clerk. 
Master  har- 
ness maker. 

Carriage 
maker. 

Carpenter  . . 

6 

Chas.   Walters.. 
Chas.  Holman.. 

Andreiu  Holz... 
James  Peters  . . . 

2 

iMvo           0                       - 

300  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

from  which  each  shop-order  is  payable.  See  pages  143,  272. 
The  amounts  under  each  appropriation  being  summed  up,  the 
proper  credits  given,  see  page  286,  and  the  principal  specific 
duties  of  the  workman  determined  from  the  symbols,  the  result 
need  only  be  transcribed  to  form  the  return  required. 

Note. — The  time  book  may  be  divided  among  several  helpers  for  the  simultaneous 
computation  of  its  data.  When  completed  it  may  be  kept  as  the  retained  copy  of  the 
hired  return.      (Captain  Michaelis.) 

It  is  worth  while  to  notice  the  difference  between  this  and  the 
present  method  of  making  this  return,  particularly  if  the  time  is 
kept  on  form  B,  page  60.  In  such  a  case  the  Commanding 
Officer  usually  distributes  the  pay-roll  among  the  appropriations 
rather  according  to  the  balances  available  than  according  to  the 
purposes  on  which  the  time  paid  for  has  actually  been  expended. 
The  reason  for  this  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  time  records,  for  these 
are  so  voluminous,  scattered  and  incoherent,  covering  as  many 
pages  for  each  shop  as  there  are  working  days  in  the  month,  and 
with  the  occupations  of  the  men  so  confusedly  stated  in  the 
cramped  space  allowed  for  them  by  the  extended  language  re- 
quired, that  confining  oneself  to  the  book,  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
take  a  comprehensive  view  of  any  one  man's  employment.  The 
balance  remaining  under  each  appropriation  is  then  the  one  thing 
most  certain  and  tends  most  strongly  to  determine  the  distribution 
of  the  charge. 


The  MontJily  Statement  of  Expenditures,  Present  Form  (now 
required). 

This  is  a  cash  paper,  not  belonging  to  the  accountability,  in  the 
form  of  a  single  abstract  serving  to  classify  the  expenditures  solely 
with  reference  to  their  purposes,  without  reference  to  appropria- 
tions, objects  or  persons. 

The  list  of  agencies  resembles  in  many  of  its  features  that  of 
the  standing  and  other  shop-orders ;  but  the  classification  is  not 
exact,  the  pay  of  clerks  being  included  with  the  purchase  of 
animals,  etc. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


301 


Present  Form.  (io^"xi6".) 

STATEMENT  OF  EXPENDITURES  for  Permanent  Improvements,  Ordinary  Re- 
pairs thereof,  and  for  Miscellaneous  Articles,  including  the  Purchase,  Manufacture  and 

Repair  of  all  kinds  of  Ordnance,  Ordnance  Stores,  &c.,  at _ 

during  the  month  of ,  187  . 


A.  Purchase  of  Land,  including  improvements  thereon  at  the  time  of 
purchase 


Permanent  Improvemejtts,  viz. : 

I .  Erection  of  buildings 

2. 

3- 

4- 


New  machinery 

*Shop  fixtures 

Grading  grounds,  making  roads  and  walks,  planting  ^ 
trees,  &c 5 

Mill-dams,  canals,  sewers,  &c, 


6.  Improving  water  power  at  Rock  Island,  111. 


Total  for  permanent  improvements $ 


Ordinary  Repairs  of- 

Buildings 

Machinery 

Shop  fixtures 

Grounds,  roads,  walks,  &c... 
Mill-dams,  canals,  sewers,  &c. 


Total     for    ordinal  y    repairs    01    buildings,    machinery, 
grounds,  «&c $ 


Miscellaneous,  viz. : 

1.  Purchase  and  manufacture  of  armament  for  fortifica-  \ 

tions $ 

2.  Purchase,    manufacture    and    alterations   of    small 

arms,  spare  parts  and  appendages 

3.  Purchase  and  manufacture  of  field  and  siege  car-  ^ 

riages,  caissons,  equipments,  accoutrements  and 
all  other  ordnance  stores  not  before  mentioned.. 

4.  Repairing,  cleaning,    overhauling   and    preserving 

ordnance  and  ordnance  stores 

5.  Purchase  of  animals,  vehicles,  &c.,  all  expenses  for  ^ 

repairs,  &c.,  not  chargeable  to  any  of  the  fore- 
going   ' 


Total  for  miscellaneous $ 

Grand  Total $ 


I  certify  that  the  foregoing  report  is  correct. 


Com  nt  a  n  ding. 

N'OTE  —The  total  expenditures  reported  on  thib  sheet  must  agree  with  the  amount  reported  on  the 
Abstract  of  Disbursements  for  the  corresponding  month. 

*  Shop  fixtures  embrace  shafting,  hangers,  pulleys,  gearing  and  belting  connected  therewith. 


302  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Inasmuch  as  this  paper  is  required  to  agree  with  the  monthly 
abstract  of  disbursements,  it  can  take  no  heed  of  the  value  of 
material  bought  in  previous  months  and  expended  in  this  one,  nor 
of  the  disposition  made  of  material  paid  for  in  this  month,  but 
not  expended. 

Note. — The  term  "expenditure"  in  the  title  refers  solely  to  money;  it  is  a  term 
rather  loosely  used  in  military  accounts,  having  three  separate  meanings  given  to  it. 

Re^narks. 
The  requirement  that  the  total  expenditures  reported  should 
agree  with  the  total  reported  on  the  abstract  of  disbursements  for 
the  same  month  complicates  the  preparation  of  this  paper  and 
deprives  it  of  some  of  its  value.  Otherwise,  a  simple  statement 
of  the  cost  to  date  of  the  standing  orders  and  a  corresponding 
classification  of  orders  completed  would  give  the  information  re- 
quired, without  regard  to  when  the  material  expended  happened 
to  be  paid    or. 

Preparation,  Present  and  Proposed. 

Under  existing  requirements  we  must  re-analyze  the  time  book 
according  to  the  classification  given  in  the  statement  in  order  to 
prepare  a  double  abstract,  the  headings  of  which  will  be  the 
classification  adopted  and  the  agencies  the  names  or  numbers  of 
the  individual  operatives. 

The  right-hand  column  of  the  time  book  provides  for  entering 
opposite  each  expenditure  for  services  of  the  same  kind  a  reference 
to  the  proper  heading  of  the  statement.  This  may  be  an  abbre- 
viation ;  thus  B — 2  would  mean  new  machinery ;  B — 3  permanent 
improvements  to  shop  fixtures ;  C — 5  ordinary  repairs  to  mill- 
dams,  canals,  etc.     See  forms,  pages  271,  301. 

Should  the  present  form  of  this  paper  be  continued,  the  stand- 
ing shop-orders  should  be  cast  with  reference  to  its  requirements. 
Otherwise  the  time  book  would  need  contain  both  the  S-O.  and 
C.  columns  given  on  the  service  cards,  to  the  great  hindrance  of 
the  progressive  consolidation  of  the  arsenal  accounts,  which  is  so 
much  to  be  desired. 

To  illustrate  :  take  B — 4  and  C — 4.  At  Frankford  Arsenal  these 
would  correspond  to  S-O.  223  P.  and  S-O.  223  W.  respectively, 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  303 

and  would  require  separate  lines  for  P.  and  W.  on  the  time  book. 
Now,  since  all  orders  must  be  treated  alike,  every  other  order 
might  be  entered  as  P.  or  W.,  and  many  as  A.  or  T.  besides, 
thereby  at  least  doubling  all  the  headings  of  the  time  book  and 
the  labor  of  combining  them  and  distributing  them  among  the 
appropriations. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  permanent  improvements  and  ordinary 
repairs  of  grounds  have  each  a  separate  shop-order,  there  will  be 
only  one  more  order  to  be  provided  for ;  or  if,  still  better,  the 
statement  attempted  no  distinction  which  could  not  be  easily 
defined,  the  labor  would  not  be  at  all  increased. 

A  similar  analysis  of  the  material  purchased  during  the  month, 
whether  expended  in  it  or  not,  will  complete  the  data  needed  for 
the  preparation  of  this  statement.  This  should  be  done  by  the 
pay  clerk. 

As  a  general  thing  it  must  be  remembered  that  however  ex- 
tended our  system  of  standing  orders  may  be,  it  will  always  be 
much  easier  to  combine  them  into  any  such  groups  as  this  state- 
ment requires  than  to  analyze  the  showings  of  any  that  cover 
too  much  ground.  Wine  and  water  may  be  easily  mixed,  but 
once  mixed,  it  takes  the  still  to  separate  them. 

Abstract  of  Disbiirsemeiits  (now  required). 

This  paper  logically  should  be  a  consolidation  of  all  the  dis- 
bursements for  the  month :  first,  for  services,  comprising  the 
footings  of  the  appropriation  columns  of  the  hired  return  and 
individual  vouchers  similarly  distributed  ;  and  second,  the  footings 
of  the  appropriation  columns  from  the  monthly  abstract  of  pur- 
chases. See  page  257.  If  the  return  of  hired  men  could  be 
made  to  embrace  external  services  as  well  as  internal  services,  it 
would  become  a  parallel  paper  to  the  abstract  of  purchases  pro- 
posed, and  the  abstract  of  disbursements  could  then  be  made  in 
two  lines,  one  for  services  and  the  other  for  material. 


304 


PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 


Present  Form 


Abstract  of  Disbursements  at 


g 

"o 
1.* 

E 

3 

To  whom  paid. 

Nature  of  the  disbursement. 

State  here  distinctly  kind,  quan- 
tity, and  PRICE  PER  UNIT  of  the 
principal  articles  in  each  voucher, 
on  as  many  lines  as  may  be  neces- 
sary.    Vouchers  for  miscellane- 
ous stores  —  such  as  stationery, 
hardware,&c — embracing  many 
items,  will  be  stated  in  general 
terms.     Such  phrases  as  "  for  the 
purchase    of,"    &c.,    should    be 
omitted. 

S.5||-= 

0  a-^ 

1. 

Ordnance  Service,  1885. 

For  the  ordnance  service,  required  to  defray  the  cu 

-W-    expenses  at  the  arsenals ;    of  receiving  stores  and  is; 

0      arms  and  other  ordnance  supplies  ;   of  police  and 

'       duties;  of  fuel  and  lights  ;    of  stationery  and  office 

g      niture;    of  tools  and  instruments  for  use  ;   of  public 

mals,  forage  and  vehicles,  incidental  expenses  of  the 

nance  service,  and  those  attending  practical  trials 

tests  of  ordnance, small  arms  and  other  ordnance  supi 

Manufac- 
tu  r  in  g 
metallic 
ammuni- 
tion    for 
s  m  al  1- 
arms. 

$100,000. 

$ 

c. 

$ 

0. 

I 

2 

3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 

9 

lO 

II 

12 

'3 

14 
15 
16 

'7 
18 

19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 

IN  Part. 
BY - 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  305 

29" X  19". 

..,  IN  THE  Month  ending ,  188  . 


ORDNANCE,  ORDNANCE  STORES,  &c.,  1885. 
3.  4.  5.  6  7. 


Overhaul- 
ing, pre- 
serv  i  n  g 
&  clean- 
ing new 
ordnance 
stores  on 
hand  at 
the  arse- 
nals. 


$20,000. 


Purchase 
&  nianu- 
fac  t  u  r  e 
of  ord- 
nance 
stores  to 
fill  requi- 
sitions of 
troops. 


$115,000. 


%\%  g- 

"  >-  5!  ?-. 

u   ^  U 

■^   O    rt  « 


i^o 


£•-5-3 

m2  = 
c  t 


_  ..  >» 

C    =    "u 


■o  u  p.  g  -o 


1  o 


3-^ 


■2  p 


§§■14 


c  "  j: 


rt  ^-  u  -  £  u, 
E-i:  y'o  ''•^^ 

B  E  u      -o 

«.Ct3 


i  =  Ml  c  ""  "  c  u 
I  §  =.2_^.S  «  s 

n  '-O  S  -   in  J2   " 

S^  y.^  So  Sts 

$25,000. 


2  c.o. 


c  «  c 

-  U  •  -  u) 

«•£  «  o 

O  "«  h 

.  -  o  o  n 


$75, 000. 


£^ 


s  s 


Ammuni- 
tion,tools 
and  ma- 
terial for 
target 
practice. 


Total. 
O.  &O.S. 


$400,000. 


Arming 

and 

Equipping 

the 

Militia. 


$200,000. 


20 


3o6  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

Monthly    Work  Report  (now  required). 

1 .  Completed  fabrications  are  compiled  from  the  material  cards, 
page  274,  or  from  the  ledger  entries  for  the  month  under  ab- 
stract B.  The  prices  are  to  be  obtained  from  the  analysis  of  cost. 
See  page  297, 

2.  Incomplete  fabrications  are  reported  by  the  cost  clerk,  who 
adds  up  the  days*  work  done  on  them  from  the  service  cards  found 
in  the  corresponding  pigeon  holes. 

3.  Work  done  under  standing  orders  is  reported  in  the  same 
way;  thus,  "  127!  days'  work  in  the  maintenance  of  the  arsenal 
and  military  post."     (S-O.  215  F.  A.  or,  S-0.  i  B.  A.) 

4.  Orders  on  which  no  work  has  been  done  are  reported  by 
simply  enumerating  the  empty  pigeon  holes  for  service  cards,  and 
giving  the  purport  of  the  corresponding  orders. 


INTERNAL  RELATIONS. 


307 


t— I 


00 

00 


O 


p4     O 
>     Q 

o 

Q 
< 

H 


U 

"33}S  'spjBqqrDS  ;3uo.{rcj 

1    i 

0 



•— > 

^ 

— 

u 

M 

•s3i[DU3JAV  2n[d  9zn j; 

■«: 

0 
■Eft- 

0.  S.  26 

Dec.  2 

1884. 

«• 

d 

U 

d 

LI 

0 

•^ 

0) 

f^  . 

c 

•|B;u3iuiJ3dx3  'jaq 

-lUIf    pUB    UoSt3AV    Xa3-(}T3C[ 

_l— > 

-3 

00  « 

0\ 

ul 

N 

N 

' 

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S 

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u->t^  ii  0   ro  N      •     • 

-t- 

C 

u 

00  -■  C^ 

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'd 

0 

0 

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^3 

0) 

0 

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&I 

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C 

<° 

>-• 

1) 

J5 

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2 
0 

6 

hop  tend( 
stahleme 
d  watchm 
cers 

5J 
r 
S 

0) 

> 

0 

5 

o; 
1- 

n 

C 
0 

0 

'S 

and  dr 
r  workn 
nirs   _ 

rs  and  s 
ers  and 
nger  an 
om.  off 
es 

Totals 

C 
a 

0 

0 

u 

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4; 

1 

11 

1- 
uc 

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is 

^1 
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a 

3o8  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

PRIVATE   WORK. 

It  may  sometimes  be  permitted  to  have  work  done  at  the  ex- 
pense of  private  parties,  the  time  of  the  workmen  being  dropped 
from  the  rolls.  The  ordinary  manner  of  doing  this  has  never 
been  quite  satisfactory  to  me ;  since,  on  the  one  hand,  the  officer 
or  foreman  ordering  the  work  done  has  no  absolute  certainty  that 
the  person  for  whom  the  work  is  done  will  satisfy  the  workman's 
claim;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  does  the  temporary  employer 
always  feel  that  his  interests  are  guarded  as  they  would  be  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  business.  For  example,  the  workman  may 
drop  half  a  day  by  going  home,  and  yet  may  claim  it  as  private 
work,  etc. 

To  meet  these  objections,  and  also  to  satisfy  the  general  rule, 
that  all  time  must  be  accounted  for  on  the  cards,  a  standing  order 
is  established  for  private  work,  say  shop-order  No.  i6. 

Then  any  small  jobs,  say  repairing  an  officer's  saddle,  which 
are  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  require  an  order  to  themselves, 
are  charged  to  No.  i6,  and  are  treated  like  any  other  order  as  far 
as  the  supervision  of  the  foremen  is  concerned. 

At  the  end  of  the  month  the  cost  clerk  should  sort  these 
according  to  the  names  of  creditors  and  make  out  bills  for  pay- 
ment. When  paid,  he  or  the  Officer  in  Charge  of  the  shop  should 
require  the  workman  to  receipt  each  card,  preferably  by  the  mark 
of  the  ball  of  the  right  thumb.  See  page  153.  This  settles  his 
claim  forever,  and  disposes  of  the  charge  that  night  otherwise  be 
made  that  private  work  is  done  at  public  expense.  It  also  makes 
a  positive  record,  showing  what  was  done,  and  for  whom  ;  whereas 
dropping  the  time  only  gives  but  a  negative  indication,  which,  as 
far  as  the  records  are  concerned,  is  of  no  value  whatever. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

APPLICATION  OF  SYSTEM  TO  PRIVATE  SHOPS. 

I  have  applied  the  principles  proposed  in  the  preceding  pages 
to  the  business  with  which  I  am  most  familiar  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  test  their  fitness  to  the  utmost  of  my  power;  but  have 
refrained  from  applying  them  specifically  to  other  affairs,  in  which 
conditions  would  probably  vary  too  much  for  rules  made  for  one 
set  to  hold  for  them  all.  I  shall  be  satisfied  to  have  suggested 
from  my  own  necessities  the  means  by  which  others  may  work 
out  their  own  accounts,  knowing  that  if  fairly  done  the  result 
must  be  true,  for  its  foundations  will  be  true. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  many  private  shops  will  find  it  to 
their  advantage  to  carry  out  all  the  measures  of  accountability 
related  herein.  I  have  consequently  excerpted  the  following 
portions  of  the  book,  so  as  to  give  a  general  idea  of  the  principles 
underlying  the  system  for  the  use  of  administrations  whose  re- 
sponsibilities are  self-contained.  The  references  to  arsenal  work 
can  be  easily  paralleled. 

The  only  point  upon  which  it  seems  necessary  to  dwell  dis- 
tinctively relates  to  the  determination  of  the  miscellaneous,  or 
shop  expenses.  See  pages  73,  142,  149,  166,  218.  In  addition 
to  the  sources  of  expense  to  which  government  establishments 
are  subject,  which  might  be  called  mechanical,  there  are  others 
which  may  be  called  civil,  such  as  interest,  taxes,  insurance,  legal 
services,  the  cost  of  sale,  etc.,  to  which  private  shops  have  to 
contribute. 

I  can  see  no  difficulty  in  apportioning  these  precisely  as  has 
been  done  with  the  mechanical  expenses.  For  example,  interest, 
taxes  and  insurance  should  be  charged,  as  far  as  they  can  be  dis- 
criminated, against  those  portions  of  the  establishment  to  which 
they  belong.  Thus  the  load  or  extra  rate  charged  for  shop  ex- 
penses (column  D,  page  276)  would  be  less  for  work  in  a  stone 


3IO  PROPOSED  SYSTEM. 

yard  than  for  work  in  a  varnish  room,  say  heated  by  steam,  in 
the  same  estabhshment.  Expenses  which  cannot  be  assigned 
must  go  into  a  miscellaneous  account,  to  be  distributed  among 
other  standing  orders  according  to  circumstances. 

Having  thus  determined  the  estimated  cost  of  the  fixed  charges 
in  each  department  for  the  current  year,  should  a  sudden  increase 
in  work  permit  the  employment  of  additional  labor  without  in- 
creasing the  plant,  we  may  readily  determine  how  far  our  charge 
for  shop  expenses  may  be  reduced  ;  for  the  divisor  being  increased 
while  the  dividend  remains  approximately  the  same,  the  quotient 
will  be  less-.  This  will  show  how  far  work  may  be  profitably 
"rushed." 

Portions  of  this  book  especially  relating  to  private  workshops : 

Chapters  II;  III;  IV;  VI,  57-65  ;  70-75;  VII;  VIII;  IX; 
XI ;  XII ;  XIII,  168-179 ;  XIV,  243-249,  260,  261  ;  XV,  266- 
282,  289-299,  306-308. 


APPENDIX. 

THE   SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM    OF    ACCOUNTS. 

Extracts  from  a  paper  read  before  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical 
Engineers,  Chicago^  May  26,  1886. 


Let  us  imagine  the  art  of  music  before  its  notation  was 
devised.  Think  of  the  strains  which  might  have  been  immortal, 
but  which  d^ed,  as  voices  die,  and  were  lost.  Imagine  the  energy 
wasted  in  repetition  ;  the  effort  beginning  afresh  with  each  new 
learner  of  each  new  tune,  enlarging  his  own  experience  merely 
and  leaving  no  vestige  to  guide  another's  way. 

Look  forward,  on  the  other  hand,  and  imagine  it  possible  to 
catch  and  fix  the  vibrations  of  an  untrammeled  voice  seeking 
expression  in  speech  or  song.  Is  not  this  the  ideal  toward 
which  stenography  and  phonography  are  but  instinctive  and 
feeble  approaches  ? 

Now,  administration  without  records  is  like  music  without 
notes — by  ear.  Good  as  far  as  it  goes,  which  is  but  a  little 
way  ;  it  bequeathes  nothing  to  the  future.  Except  in  the  very 
rudest  industries,  carried  on  as  if  from  hand  to  mouth,  all  recog- 
nize that  the  present  must  prepare  for  the  demands  of  the 
future,  and  hence  records,  more  or  less  elaborate,  are  kept. 
Their  elaboration  depends  on  what  their  results  are  worth. 

I  used  to  think  that  only  government  workshops  suffered  from 
circumlocution,  and  took  it  for  granted  that  private  establish- 
ments had  simple  and  direct  methods  of  procuring  supplies,  of 
keeping  track  of  work  in  progress,  and  of  determining  its  cost 
when  done.  I  knew,  of  course,  that  no  shop  running  to  make 
money  could  afford  to  wait,  as  I  have  had  to  do,  for  the  most 
necessary  material,  and  assumed  that,  in  other  respects,  their 


312  APPENDIX. 

management  was  generally  on  a  par  with  their  facility  in  pro- 
curing supplies. 

But  in  seeking  better  methods  where  the  permanent  personal 
responsibility  of  profit  tends  to  whittle  off  excrescences  of 
administration  which  lead  to  wasteful  delay,  I  found  that  much 
had  been  sacrificed  to  immediate  advantage  ;  that  records  were 
too  often  kept  by  memory,  so  that,  as  the  manager  of  an  estab- 
lishment employing  1,400  men  once  told  me,  "The  trouble  is, 
not  in  foreseeing  necessities,  nor  in  starting  the  work  to  meet 
them,  but  in  constantly  running  over  the  back  track  to  see  that 
nothing  ordered  had  been  overlooked,  and  in  settling  disputes 
as  to  whether  such  and  such  an  order  was  or  was  not  actually 
given  and  received.  Superintendence,"  said  he,  "  would  be 
very  different  work  if  I  were  sure  that  an  order  once  given 
would  go  of  itself  through  the  works,  leaving  a  permanent  trail 
by  which  I  could  follow  it  and  decide  positively  where  and 
by  whom  it  was  stopped.  As  it  is,  I  spend  so  much  of  my 
time  in  'shooing  '  along  my  orders  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  that  I 
have  but  little  left  for  the  serious  duties  of  my  position." 

These  were  familiar  words,  and  when  I  went  further  down, 
and  saw  how  much  foremen's  time  and  memories  were  taxed  for 
means  of  attending  at  once  and  finally  to  their  daily  wants,  I 
became  convinced  that  the  government  methods,  though  bad 
enough,  were  not  the  only  ones  to  be  criticised. 

In  the  matter  of  costs,  too,  I  found  great  uncertainty.  I 
found  one  business  which  had  been  exposed  to  expensive  litiga- 
tion, involving  $6,000,000,  to  determine  what  was  the  true  cost 
of  machinery  sold  by  its  agents  at  a  commission  based  upon  its 
cost  of  production.  I  found  another  entire  trade  based  upon 
costs  determined,  as  one  of  its  members  writes  me,  by  "thumb- 
sailing,"  large  establishments  suffering  from  the  competition  of 
ignorant  free  lances,  who,  in  ruining  themselves,  also  injured 
their  neighbors. 

II. 

The  proposed  system  of  shop  accounts  is  based  on  two  com- 
pensating principles. 

I.  The  radiating  from  a  central  source,  let  us  say  the  office,  of 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     313 

all  authority  for  expenditure  of  labor  or  material ;  these  being, 
however  they  may  be  disguised,  the  elemental  forms  of  all 
internal  expenditure. 

2.  The  converging  toward  the  office,  from  all  circumferential 
points,  of  independent  records  of  work  done  and  expenses  made 
by  virtue  of  that  authority. 

Upon  the  free  play  of  the  forces  thus  defined  there  is  but  one 
essential  restriction,  that  every  right  to  the  means  for  executing 
an  order  shall  be  qualified  by  a  responsibility,  which  shall  be 
recorded  in  as  great  particularity  of  detail  as  the  scheme  of 
management  adopted  may  require.  This  leads  to  a  comparison 
of  managements  depending  upon  the  automatic  record  of  their 
results.  The  following  discussion  will  show  how  easily  and 
cheaply  this  end  may  be  attained. 

In  a  broad  sense  a  manufactory  may  be  considered  as  an 
engine  for  transforming  material,  and  its  efficiency,  like  the  duty 
of  a  pump,  may  be  measured  by  the  ratio  of  the  effort  exerted 
to  the  effect  produced. 

It  will  not  be  disputed  that  this  ratio  is  best  expressed  by  the 
true  costs  of  its  products,  and  that  managements  may  be  com- 
pared by  their  costs. 

The  object  of  the  proposed  system  of  accounts  is  to  provide 
automatic,  and,  therefore,  impartial  means  for  determining  the 
most  probable  cost  of  manufactures  in  gross,  or  in  such  detail 
as  the  expense  of  its  determination  may  permit.  This  is  no 
new  necessity.  It  enters  into  the  imminent  questions  of  what 
we  can  afford  to  make  at  market  prices  ;  of  what  is  the  lowest 
selling  price  ;  and  also  into  estimates  relating  to  the  differences 
caused  by  the  addition  or  removal  of  parts  and  the  substitution 
of  processes. 

The  difficulty  of  analyzing  the  usual  gross  account  of  expendi- 
tures, the  uncertainty  of  this  analysis  when  made  by  clerks  un- 
familiar with  the  processes  analyzed,  and  the  evident  objections 
to  so  employing  the  time  of  foremen,  have  generally  led  to  more 
or  less  exact  accurate  estimates  of  cost  by  those  whose  manage- 
ment was  more  or  less  in  question.  I  do  not  exclude  the  self- 
deception  of  absolute  proprietors.  These  objections  are  increased 
as  the  product  of  an  establishment  is  diversified,  so  that  the  more 


314  APPENDIX. 

miscellaneous  is  the  product,  and  hence  the  more  necessary  the 
knowledge  of  its  difference  in  cost,  the  more  difficult  is  this 
knowledge  to  obtain.  A  system  which  might  serve  a  blast  fur- 
nace would  utterly  fail  in  a  repair  shop,  yet  are  not  the  accounts 
of  repair  shops  often  kept  on  blast-furnace  principles  ? 

It  would  seem  that  the  practice  of  estimating  costs  would  not 
be  followed  if  a  more  positive  method  were  available  at  a  reason- 
able price. 

The  world  has  been  working  too  long  with  existing  methods 
for  any  one  to  hope  to  improve  them  ;  the  change  must  be  one 
of  methods.  I  propose  to  replace  the  ordinary  ex  post  facto 
analysis  of  expenses  by  a  preliminary  analysis  of  objects  of 
expense,  to  be  followed  by  a  synthesis  of  items  of  expense,  made 
mechanically  by  sorting  cards,  on  which  the  objects  of  expense 
have  been  indicated  at  the  time  of  expenditure,  by  the  persons 
who  most  probably  knew  them  best,  in  symbols  significant  to 
the  least  experienced  compiler. 

By  thus  defining  every  charge  for  labor  and  material,  our 
accounts  are,  so  to  speak,  balanced  in  advance,  and  it  only 
remains  to  distinguish  between  specific  and  general  expenses 
and  properly  to  apportion  the  general  expenses  among  the  spe- 
cific, in  order  to  obtain  the  most  probable  cost  of  any  specific 
object. 

III. 

A  manufactory  may  be  functionally  divided  into  two  main 
portions,  the  workshops  and  the  office. 

In  the  shops  are  performed  the  processes,  with  the  records  of 
which  the  office  is  principally  concerned  ;  on  one  side  stands 
the  foreman  expending  labor  in  transforming  material ;  on  the 
other  sits  the  clerk  recording  the  results  of  the  other's  acts. 
Taking  these  two  as  typical  figures,  I  propose  : 

1.  To  require  the  highest  local  authority  to  define  the  objects 
on  which  its  resources  are  to  be  expended.  In  other  words, 
what  accounts  are  to  be  opened. 

2.  To  require  the  foreman  to  define  the  object  most  probably 
benefiting  by  the  expenditure  which  he  directs,  as  nearly  as 
possible  at  the  time  that  the  expendit,ure  is  made. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER  SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     315 

3.  To  require  a  clerk,  independent  of  the  foreman,  to  compile 
the  record  of  the  foreman's  acts. 

4.  To  provide  a  simple  symbolic  language,  common  to  both 
office  and  workshop,  by  which  the  same  object  of  expenditure, 
whether  it  be  a  product,  a  component,  or  an  operation  of  manu- 
facture, shall  always  be  called  by  the  same  name,  and  by  which 
the  foreman's  symbols  shall  suffice  the  clerk,  without  requiring 
of  either  a  knowledge  of  the  other's  work, 

5.  To  make  each  act  of  record  an  independent  unit  by  enter- 
ing it  on  a  separate  card,  certified  by  significant  punch-marks. 

6.  To  save  clerk's  work  in  combining  similar  entries  by  assort- 
ing mechanically  cards  containing  similar  symbols,  only  tran- 
scribing the  summation  of  the  charges  they  contain. 

7.  To  provide  that  no  claim  for  labor  shall  be  allowed,  nor 
any  material  put  in  the  way  of  expenditure,  unless  charged  to 
its  most  probable  object ;  so  that  to  every  right  there  shall 
attach  a  responsibility  of  record. 

8.  To  provide  for  the  transfer  between  general  and  specific 
expenses,  of  charges  more  probably  belonging  to  either. 

9.  While  allowing  free  play  to  the  foreman,  to  increase  cor- 
respondingly his  responsibility  as  measured  by 

a.  The  cost  of  specific  work. 

b.  The  ratio  of  his  general  expenses  to  the  causes  of  such 
expenses.* 

10.  To  eschew  the  use  of  books,  except  for  final  records, 
because  of 

X.  Their  inflexibility ;  they  can  be  used  by  but  one  person 
at  a  time. 

y.  The  labor  of  combining  similar  entries  made  in  them  at 
different  times  and  places. 

z.  The  certainty  that  when  used  for  memoranda,  the  effete 
matter  will  soon  obscure  the  important,  so  that  the  longer  an 
entry  has  escaped  attention,  the  more  certainly  will  it  be 
neglected. 

*  It  will  be  seen  that  relieving  himself  under  one  head  increases  his  responsibility 
under  the  other,  so  that  the  line  of  least  resistance  will  be  the  line  of  truth.  The 
same  result  is  reached  by  requiring  daily  records,  the  immediate  bearing  of  which  on 
ultimate  costs  can  hardly  be  appreciated  at  the  time. 


3i6  APPENDIX. 

II.  To  prefer  natural  methods  to  arbitrary,  so  that  those  who 
may  use  the  system  shall,  of  themselves,  tend  to  conserve  it. 


IV. 

THE    SHOP-ORDER    SYSTEM 

The  system  has  three  principal  objects  in  view : 

1.  The  prompt  performance  of  work  by  the  prominence  given 
to  unfinished  orders. 

2.  The  determination  of  the  most  probable  cost  of  work  and 
of  management. 

3.  The  keeping  of  an  account  of  stock,  in  units  of  material  as 
distinguished  from  their  values. 

It  attains  these  objects  by  using  three  forms  of  cards,  viz. : 

1.  Shop-order  tickets,  or  warrants  of  expense,  and  records  of 
expense  reported  on. 

2.  Service  cards. 

3.  Material  cards. 

V. 

Taking  the  above  objects  in  the  order  of  their  importance  we 
have  : 

I.  Orders  for  work — shop-orders. 
These  are  of  two  kinds,  viz. : 

1.  Special  orders,  requiring  the  performance  of  specific  work. 

2.  Standing  orders,  requiring  the  maintenance  of  certain 
facilities  for  the  execution  of  the  special  orders. 

These  facilities  may  be  either  in  charge  of  certain  foremen, 
the  costs  of  whose  management  we  wish  to  compare,  or  may 
be  too  general  in  their  nature  to  be  assigned  to  any  one  depart- 
ment. 

The  first  are  called  departmental,  and  the  second,  general 
standing  orders. 

Designation. 

The  special  orders  are  designated  by  serial  numbers,  beginning 
at  100,  according  to  their  sequence  in  the  shop-order  book. 
Each  department  of  the  manufactory  is  known  by  a  number. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     317 

preferably  in  the  order  of  work,  and  the  standing  order  relating 
to  its  maintenance  has  the  same  number  as  the  department. 
The  numbers  below  100  may  be  reserved  for  these  orders;  e.g., 
I,  for  the  pattern  shop  ;  2,  for  the  foundry,  etc. 

General  standing  orders  may  run  from  50  to  100.  In  deciding 
how  many  and  what  they  shall  be,  we  must  remember  that  our 
first  analysis  may  safely  be  detailed,  because  details  may  always 
be  combined  by  neglecting  their  differences,  and  it  is  easier  so 
to  combine  them  than  to  analyze  results,  too  grossly  stated,  into 
their  component  parts.  The  more  complete  is  our  preliminary 
analysis,  the  more  stable  will  be  our  synthesis.  The  history  of 
chemistry  and  of  mathematics  teaches  this.  In  another  sense 
we  say,  "  we  divide  that  we  may  rule." 

The  following  general  standing  orders  are  suggested  : 

51.  Ofifice  expenses  relating  to  factory. 

52.  Office  expenses  relating  to  sales. 

53.  Office,  and  other  expenses  which  cannot  be  classi- 
fied. 

54.  Power. 

55.  Heat. 

56.  Light. 

57.  Transportation,  in  and  about  factory. 

58.  Repairs  of  buildings,  not  departmental. 

59.  Superintendence,  general. 

For  rent,  insurance,  taxes,  and  the  subdivision  of  general 
expenses,  see  Cost  of  Work,  page  329. 

Authority  to  issue  orders. 

The  authority  for  all  orders  is  vested  in  the  office  ;  but,  as  is 
customary,  is  more  or  less  extended  to  include  transactions 
between  foremen.  With  the  free  exercise  of  this  right  is  com- 
bined the  incidental  responsibility  of  a  written  record,  retained 
by  the  recipient,  who  is  in  turn  restrained  by  the  automatic 
record  of  the  cost  of  his  work.  Both  records  coming  finally  to 
the  office,  one  foreman  is  accountable  for  the  necessity  of  the 
order  and  the  other  for  the  cost  of  executing  it.  This  principle 
of  liberty,  qualified  by  responsibility,  runs  throughout  the 
plan. 


3i8  APPENDIX. 

Form  of  order. 

The  shop-order  book  provides  a  place  for  the  record  of  every 
order  originating  in  the  office.  A  special  order  here  receives  its 
serial  number,  and  work  of  a  general  nature  worth  special  entry 
takes  the  number  of  its  proper  standing  order. 

To  distribute  orders,  and  for  other  purposes,  the  order  ticket 
is  devised.  See  duplicate  form  separated  by  a  perforated  line, 
page  319.  A  punch-mark  of  special  design  in  the  "  authority  " 
space,  indicates  the  giver. 

Standing  orders  and  their  numbers  are  circulated  in  lists 
which  are  soon  memorized. 

Cotirse  of  tickets. 

I  shall  describe  the  simplest  case  first,  as  its  principles  apply 
in  all  others. 

1.  For  short  jobs,  on  which  only  one  kind  of  work  is  done  at 
a  time,  single  tickets  serve. 

They  are  displayed  in  a  rack  in  each  foreman's  ofHce,  while  the 
work  is  in  his  shop.  When  the  work  is  done  he  punches  out 
his  number"^  in  the  marginal  line  headed  "  Completion,"  and 
passes  the  work  and  the  ticket  with  it  to  the  next  foreman  in 
order.  This  is  continued  until  the  ticket  reaches  the  ofifice, 
where  the  date  of  its  completion  may  be  entered  in  the  shop- 
order  book, 

2.  When  work  is  to  begin  or  continue  in  more  than  one 
department  at  a  time,  separate  tickets  must  be  made  out  for 
each  department.  These  issue  directly  from,  and  are  return- 
able directly  to,  the  office,  as  soon  as  each  department's  work  on 
the  job  is  done. 

*  Men  are  known  by  the  numbers  of  their  shops  or  of  the  departments  in  which 
they  work.  In  each  department  they  are  ranged  by  invariable  numbers  according  to 
their  importance,  seniority,  etc.  Thus  of  shop,  or  department  3,  the  foreman  is  No. 
301,  the  next  man  302,  and  so  on.  This  allows  for  100  men  in  each  department.  If 
this  number  should  be  exceeded,  many  expedients  of  correction  are  possible.  M.  A. 
below  signifies  Master  Armorer  in  arsenals  ;  in  private  shops  S.  might  be  used  for 
Superintendent. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER  SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     319 


Receipt. 

M-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

S-0.                 ; 

c. 

;  0 

• 

;  N. 

J 

188     . 

Authority, 

Completed 

IBS     . 

Completion. 

M-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

Receipt. 

M-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

S-O.                  ; 

C. 

;  0 

;  N. 

» 

188     . 

Authority, 

( 

"ompleted, 

188     . 

Completed. 

M-A. 

201. 

205. 

301. 

401. 

501. 

601. 

701. 

801. 

3.  Subordinate  orders. 

Foremen  requiring  the  co-operation  of  others  may  originate 
tickets  specifying  the  work  to  be  done,  by  indicating  the  num- 
ber of  the  original  order  authorizing  the  work  and  punching  the 


320  APPENDIX. 

authority  space  with  their  special  punches.  These  tickets  are 
returned  to  the  office  by  the  recipient.  They  may  well  be  white 
to  distinguish  them  from  office  tickets,  which  may  be  of  two  or 
three  different  colors  to  indicate  the  relative  urgency  of  the 
work  they  authorize. 

Thus  S-O.  789.     Build  6  double  axle  lathes, 

might  be  on  a  yellow  ticket,  indicating  a  staple  manufacture; 
and 

S-O.  2,  P.     Cut  door  north  side  pattern-shop, 

on  a  blue  ticket,  to  indicate  local  work  of  an  important  nature. 
Such  tickets  emanating  from  the  office  would  be  in  ink,  and 
would  refer  to  drawings,  specifications,  etc. ;  but  a  merely  local 
order  or  foreman's  request,  such  as 

S-O.  55,  W.     Stop  leak  in  steam  coil, 

sent,  say,  by  the  master  carpenter  to  the  master  machinist, 
might  be  in  pencil  on  a  white  ticket. 

It  is  desirable,  but  not  essential,  that  subordinate  orders  be  in 
writing.  The  advantage  in  definiteness,  in  responsibility,  in  the 
certainty  of  execution,  and  in  the  accuracy  of  the  record  which 
follow  from  writing  them  are  so  great  as  to  outweigh  the  slight 
loss  of  time  taken  to  fill  them  up  and  punch  them.  A  package 
of  tickets,  a  lead  pencil,  and  a  ticket  punch  are  all  that  a  fore- 
man needs  for  attending  finally  to  any  order  which  he  is  compe- 
tent to  give. 

In  complicated  operations,  where  it  is  desirable  to  take  heed 
of  the  receipt  of  orders  on  their  delivery,  duplicate  tickets,  such 
as  shown  in  full,  may  be  used  to  advantage.  The  duplicate 
ticket  is  also  intended  for  a  complete  exhibit,  say,  in  the  racks 
of  the  superintendent's  office  of  unfinished  work  ordered  by  him 
or  by  his  superiors.  As  the  completed  tickets  come  in  from  the 
foremen,  he  takes  down  his  retained  copy  from  the  proper  rack, 
punches  it,  and  returns  it  to  the  main  office,  keeping  that  which 
he  has  received  on  a  file  for  future  reference. 

Advantages  of  order  tickets. 

Each  foreman's  unfinished  work  is  always  displayed  before 
him,  relieving  his  memory  and  permitting  him  to  apply  all  his 


THE  SHOP-ORDER  SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     321 


energy  to  active  work.     This  applies  in  even  greater  measure  to 
the  superintendent. 

For  the   orders   in  question  the  ticket  represents  both  the 


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32  2  APPENDIX. 

work  and  the  authority  for  doing  it  ;  and  as  no  foreman  receives 
work  without  its  warrant,  each  one  checks  the  other  and  pre- 
vents the  loss  or  neglect  of  either.  The  loss  of  a  ticket,  at  the 
worst,  would  correspond  only  to  an  order  forgotten  under  com- 
mon methods  ;  in  practice  they  are  never  lost. 

The  tickets  in  the  racks  may  be  classified  as  work  in  hand,  or 
as  not  in  hand,  by  departments,  and  in  many  other  convenient 
ways.  When  returned  to  the  office  after  completion,  they  may 
be  re-sorted  according  to  objects  worked  on,  forming  an  indefi- 
nitely expansible  index  to  the  order  book. 

VI. 

'  RECORDS   OF   EXPENDITURE. 

Having  shown  how  an  order,  started  from  the  heart  of  the 
administration  or  from  one  of  its  intermediate  points,  finds  its 
way  out  to  the  circumference  and  along  it  ;  and  how,  its  work 
accomplished,  it  is,  by  natural  means,  brought  back  to  its  source, 
it  remains  to  show  how  the  records  of  the  expense  it  has  involved 
are  similarly  directed  in  their  centripetal  course. 

The  expenses  of  a  workshop  may  be  classified  under  two 
heads: 

{Internal. 
External. 
2.  Material. 

I.    SERVICES. 

Labor  may  be  performed  either  within  the  establishment  or 
without  it.  To  both  kinds  of  labor  the  name  service  is  given, 
and  their  record  is  kept  on  uniform  service  cards.  For  internal 
services  these  are  roughly  bound  into  little  books  like  check 
books,  each  page  containing  one  card  detachable  like  a  bank 
check,  and  having  a  memorandum  stub  for  the  workman's  pri- 
vate use.  All  cards  are  printed  on  one  side  of  brown  manilla 
paper. 

Employment  of  service  cards. 

One  of  these  cards,  designed  for  arsenal  use,  and  such  as, 
with  the  addition  of  a  space  for  "  machine  time,"  is  used  by 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     323 

one  of  our  large  locomotive  factories,  is  reproduced  full  size  on 
page  321. 


R.G.&SON.                                   APR     2     1886 

l>To_      l>T£Lme-      PLsite- 
235.    Lannigan,    0.25. 

Order  No. 

1 

Piece. 

Work. 

Hours. 

7^^ 

Sfklndles. 

Qplanei,. 

/O 

The  above  is  a  full  size  cut  of  a  similar  card  in  simpler  form, 
designed  for  day  work  in  an  establishment  where  no  piece  work 
is  done.  If  greater  simplicity  were  required,  the  two  middle 
spaces  might  be  omitted. 

When  a  man  is  hired  he  receives  a  book  in  which,  on  each 
card,  his  name  and  rate  of  wages  are  stamped.  This  certifies  his 
employment  to  his  foreman.  He  gets  his  book  from  his  fore- 
man in  the  morning  and  returns  it  at  night  with  one  page  filled 
for  every  order  on  which  he  has  worked  during  the  day. 

If  he  has  worked  all  day  on  but  one  order,  his  writing  may 
consist  of  its  number  and  the  number  of  time  units  in  a  work- 
ing day.  Thus,  if  the  hour  is  taken  as  the  time  unit,  he  might 
write  : 

S-0.  789  Time  units,  lo. 

If  time  is  kept  by  the  half-hour  it  would  read  : 

S-0.  789  Time  units,  20,  and  so  on. 

The  foreman  looks  over  the  books  when  handed  in  ;  if  correct, 
stamps  them  with  his  dating  stamp,  tears  out  the  leaves  filled, 
and  sends  them  to  the  ofifice.  The  next  morning  he  returns  the 
books  to  the  men. 

The  book  serves  a  double  purpose ;  it  affords  the  workman  an 


324 


APPENDIX. 


opportunity  for  making  a  definite  charge  for  his  labor,  and  it 
gives  him  the  only  opportunity  of  doing  so.  This  makes  certain 
a  record  of  his  employment  during  the  time  for  which  he  is  paid, 
and  also  affords  original  evidence  from  an  impartial  source  as  to 
the  object  on  which  that  labor  has  been  spent. 

It  takes  the  place  of  a  roll  call  or  time  check.  Early  comers 
get  their  books  at  once  and  can  go  to  work.  Late  comers  are  so 
marked  on  their  own  books.  Those  who  leave  early  have  their 
books  verified  at  the  time. 

If  a  man  has  worked  on  several  orders  during  the  day,  he  fills 
out  a  separate  leaf  for  each  order,  the  sum  of  the  times  equaling 
the  total  time,  as  before. 

Piece  work  is  similarly  entered,  the  leaf  being  punched  by  the 
inspector.  The  time  and  piece  records  are  independent  of  each 
other,  so  that  if  a  batch  of  piece  work  should  last  a  man  for 
several  days,  he  still  makes  his  time  record  for  those  days  at  no 
price. 

When  the  cards  reach  the  office,  daily,  they  are  sorted,  if  need 
be,  by  names  and  the  total  time,  pieces,  or  wages  entered  in  the 
time  book.  They  are  then  re-sorted  by  orders  and  distributed 
in  pigeon  holes  corresponding  to  the  orders. 

2.  External  services. 

Outside  services  embrace  freight,  insurance,  rent,  taxes,  tele- 
graphing, attorney  fees,  etc.,  pertaining  to  factory.  These  cards, 
when  approved,  are  filed  like  those  first  described. 

Payment  for  such  service  must  be  similarly  distributed  among 
the  shop  orders  benefiting  by  the  expense.  It  is  optional 
whether  this  shall  be  done  for  each  bill  before  payment,  or 
whether  such  charges  shall  be  consolidated  from  the  books 
monthly  or  oftener. 

2.    MATERIAL. 

Material  card. 

This  card,  which  is  freely  distributed  in  blank  to  the  foremen, 
permits  every  transaction  with  material  to  be  recorded.  The 
accompanying  form  is  devised  especially  for  private  shops.  If 
a  foreman  wants  some  steel  he  fills  the  card  as  shown,  charging 
it  to  the  order  for  which  most  probably  needed.     He  makes  a 


THE  SHOP-ORDER  SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     325 

direct  charge  to  a  special  order  if  possible  ;  if  not,  then  prefer- 
ably to  his  departmental  standing  order.  The  foreman  makes 
his  entry  in  pencil,  entries  of  price  and  amount  being  added  by 
clerks. 

Punching   out   "required  by,"   he  throws  the  card  into   his 


APR  3  1886 

eUANTITY. 

NAME. 

ASSUMED. 
ACTUAL 

/64 

UNIT. 

N.  B.     Make  but  one  entry  on  each  card. 

4               4 
aooui  ^  /^-   Cona. 

Price 
Unit. 

Dolls. 

Cts. 

CHARGE    TO 

CREDIT    TO 

AMOUNT. 

s-o. 

C. 

0. 

N. 

S-O. 

C. 

0. 

N. 

DOLLARS. 

CENTS. 

^SO 

w 

Ordered  front    ^^oznina   <%   ^bo. 

Required     ^ 

BY                     ^ 

Certified         ^ 

BY                    ^ 

messenger  box  and  concerns  himself  no  more  about  it.  Without 
awaiting  a  special  time  or  opportunity  for  making  known  his 
wants,  without  awaiting  the  return  from  the  of^ce  of  his 
"  requisition  book,"  he  has,  at  the  very  moment  that  the  need 
of  the  steel  presented  itself,  asked  definitely  and  finally  for  what 
he  wanted.     He  has  set  rolling  a  ball  which  will  be  in  some- 


326  APPENDIX. 

body's  way  until  it  is  finally  disposed  of.  At  the  office  it  may 
be  approved  or  sent  back  for  explanation,  or  simply  suspended, 
without  interfering  with  immediate  action  on  other  articles 
asked  for  at  the  same  time.  A  Tong  list  is  like  a  large  bank- 
note, easy  to  carry,  but  hard  to  change. 

Suppose  that  the  requisition  is  approved  by  the  superintend- 
ent's also  punching  ''  required  by,"  the  card  is  sorted  with  other 
cards  of  the  same  kind,  say  for  hardware,  the  name  of  the  dealer 
from  whom  the  material  is  to  be  ordered  attached,  or  not,  at 
pleasure,  and  the  card  sent  with  others  to  the  foreman  or  store- 
keeper who  is  to  receive  it  on  arrival.  If  to  the  foreman,  he 
knows  what  to  expect. 

When  the  steel  has  come,  the  quantity  actually  received  is 
filled  in,  the  receiver  punches  "certified  by"  or  "received  by," 
or  whatever  special  form  of  acknowledgment  may  be  required 
by  the  management,  and  sends  the  card  to  the  bill  clerk,  who, 
after  comparing  it  with  the  bill,  and,  maybe,  adding  prices  or 
amount,  sends  it  to  the  cost  clerk  for  filing  in  the  proper  pigeon- 
hole. 

Let  us  suppose  again  that  the  foreman,  having  no  immediate 
use  for  the  steel,  has  charged  his  departmental  standing  order 
with  it.  By  and  by  he  finds  that  he  wants  ten  pounds  of  it  for 
a  special  job.  He  makes  out  another  card,  charging  it  to  the 
special  job  and  crediting  himself  accordingly  on  the  same  card, 
and  punches  "  certified  by  "  as  before.  The  converse  is  possible 
if  he  finds  that  he  has  charged  too  much  to  the  special  order 
first  mentioned. 

If  he  lets  another  foreman  have  steel,  he  charges  and  credits 
appropriately  between  departmental  orders,  certifies  the  entry, 
and  gets  the  other  foreman  to  do  so  before  he  gives  up  the 
steel.  The  issuer  keeps  the  punched  card  as  his  equivalent,  and 
sends  it  to  the  office  for  entry. 

The  card  may  also  be  used  for  reporting  each  batch  of  work 
packed  or  shipped  or  sent  to  the  storeroom  or  warehouse,  as 
the  custom  of  the  place  may  require.  Such  cards  contain  a 
credit  to  the  order  under  which  the  material  has  been  made. 
They  take  the  place  of  all  memoranda  recopied  into  lists  for 
office  use.     Each  card  may  start  independently  of  the  rest  at  the 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     327 

very  time  that  the  batch  is  done  or  inspected,  so  that  there  may 
be  any  number  coming  into  the  office  during  the  day.  Like 
the  other  cards  they  are  movable  memoranda,  written  once  and 
for  all  by  those  responsible  for  their  accuracy. 

These  are  the  simplest  of  many  possible  cases ;  I  have  so  far 
been  unable  to  imagine  one  in  which  the  card  fails  to  tell  its 
story  in  the  easiest  and  plainest  way. 


VII. 

THE   COST  OF  WORK. 

This  second  division  of  our  subject  involves  two  elements : 

1.  The  work  done. 

2.  The  cost  of  doing  it. 

The  second  of  these  divided  by  the  first  gives  the  price. 

I.    The   Work  Done. 

An  order  having  been  completed,  we  may  simply  wish  to 
know  what  it  has  produced. 

This  may  be  determined  in  any  customary  manner,  subject  to 
this  precaution,  that  it  is  not  always  safe  to  assume  that  the 
exact  number  of  articles  ordered  by  the  tickets  has  been  made. 
The  means  described,  page  326,  are  probably  as  easy  and  expe- 
ditious as  any  that  can  be  devised. 

The  gross  product  is,  therefore,  easily  determined,  but,  except 
in  the  crudest  industries,  this  will  hardly  satisfy  those  in  charge. 
There  is  scarcely  any  work  which  does  not  require  some  prepar- 
atory expense  in  the  way  of  drawings,  patterns,  tools,  etc., 
which  may  be  useful  for  future  work  of  the  same  kind. 

We  shall  generally,  therefore,  require  separate  information  as 
to 

1.  What  must  be  done  again  every  time  that  such  an  order  is 
repeated — what  is  made  for  sale. 

2.  What  has  been  done  in  preparation,  having,  when  the  order 
is  completed,  a  permanent  value  for  future  work  of  the  same 
kind — what  is  made  for  the  establishment. 

In  anticipation  of  such  inquiries,  we  provide  in  advance  that 


328  APPENDIX. 

all  expenditures,  besides  being  reported  under  the  order  author- 
izing them,  shall  be  referred,  under  that  order,  either 

1.  To  "  Work,"  symbol  W.,  or 

2.  To  "  Plant,"  symbol  P. 

"  Work  "  has  been  sufficiently  defined  above. 

"  Plant "  includes  drawings,  patterns,  machinery,  and  special 
tools  and  fixtures  not  apt  to  be  consumed  during  the  execution 
of  the  order.  Buildings,  etc.,  are  plant  of  standing  orders ; 
their  extensive  repairs  and  improvements  are  charged  to  P. ; 
current  repairs  to  W. 

The  simple  analysis  given  suffices  for  miscellaneous  products; 
but  for  the  staple  objects  of  manufacture  for  which  a  factory 
may  be  specially  designed,  such  as  guns,  sewing  or  other 
machines,  and  appliances  made  on  a  large  scale,  we  may  also 
wish  to  be  prepared  to  collect  information  relating  to 

3.  Their  component  parts. 

4.  The  operations  of  manufacture  through  which  these  parts 
have  passed. 

These  comprise  all  possible  questions  involving  cost,  which, 
to  be  truly  answered,  must  be  prepared  for  before  the  work  to 
be  analyzed  is  begun. 

Therefore,  although  it  is  essential  that  only  the  number  of  the 
shop  order  appear  on  every  record  of  expense,  yet,  for  a  full 
development  of  the  system,  it  is  desirable  that  every  such  record 
have  room  for  four  symbols,  viz. : 

S-O.  The  number  of  the  sJiop  order  authorizing  the  expense. 

C.  The  character  (P.  or  W.)  of  the  expense. 

O.  The  component  part  or  object,  profiting  by  the  expense. 

N.  The  symbolic  number  of  the  mechanical  operation  per- 
formed on  the  object  in  question. 

Room  is  therefore  made  for  the  symbols  S-O.,  C,  O.,  and  N. 
on  the  service  and  material  cards  already  described.  Only  so 
many  of  these  symbols  need  be  used  as  the  scheme  of  adminis- 
tration may  require ;  some  will  be  satisfied  with  gross  costs,  and 
will  need  only  the  first  symbol ;  others  will  require  plant  to  be 
separated  from  work  ;  and  others  still,  for  staple  manufactures, 
will  want  to  know  the  cost  of  components  and  of  the  operations 
upon  them.     Such  demands  must  be  anticipated  at  a  cost  pro- 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     329 

portional  to  the  benefit  expected  ;  as  we  would  reap,  so  must 
we  sow. 

2.    The  Cost  of  Doing   IVork. 

The  net  cost  consists  of 

1.  The  specific  expenses  for  labor. 

2.  The  specific  expenses  for  material. 

These  are  also  called  the  direct  expenses,  or  those  which  can 
be  charged  directly  to  any  particular  job.     Added  to 

3.  A  proper  proportion  of  the  general  annual,  or  indirect 
expenses,  they  make  the  gross  cost. 

It  is  comparatively  easy  to  compute  net  costs  by  any  of  the 
usual  methods.  Their  exactness  depends  upon  tjie '  scale  of 
trouble  adopted,  and,  excepting  errors  of  omission  arising  from 
unbalanced  data,  they  may  be  assumed  to  be  fairly  accurate. 

The  main  difficulty  lies  in  apportioning  these  general  or  in- 
direct expenses  which  cannot  be  referred  to  any  special  product. 
I  therefore  give  special  attention  to  this  subject,  as  follows: 

Apportioning  the  indirect  expenses. 

Factories  are  established  for  the  profitable  transformation  of 
material  by  the  organized  employment  of  labor.  How  shall  the 
indirect  expenses  be  distributed  ?  In  ratio  to  the  material,  or 
the  labor?     By  quantity,  or  by  value? 

I  believe  that  the  incidental  expenses  are  incurred  for  the 
purpose  of  making  labor  more  effective,  and  that  the  more 
material  enters  as  their  divisor,  the  more  does  it  vitiate  the 
probability  of  the  result. 

For,  the  more  material  costs,  the  more  labor  it  has  already  had 
spent  upon  it  ;  and  the  less,  and  not  the  more,  does  it  need  the 
facilities  provided  by  the  incidental  expenses.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  more  men  are  employed,  irrespective  of  their  cost,  the 
greater  is  the  wear  and  tear,  the  waste,  the  cost  for  room,  light, 
heat,  and  attendance,  etc. 

These  and  other  similar  considerations  lead  me  to  determine 
for  each  department  a  cost  factor  as  follows: 

I.  To  distribute  such  general  expenses  as  rent,  insurance, 
taxes,  etc.,  among  departments  profiting  by  them  according  to 
the  most  probable  hypothesis. 


330  APPENDIX. 

2.  To  distribute  last  year's  general  standing  orders  or  the 
unclassifiable  current  expenses  among  departments  in  proportion 
to  the  total  days'  work  done  in  each  department. 

3.  To  add  this  amount  for  each  department  to  the  sum  of  its 
own  expenses  for  the  past  year,  as  given  by  the  cost  of  its 
departmental  standing  order. 

4.  To  divide  the  gross  amount  thus  obtained  by  the  number 
of  direct  days'  work  done  in  each  department  during  the  past 
year,  and  so  obtain  a  cost  factor,  say  of  $0.95  per  day,  by  which 
the  cost  of  every  day's  direct  work  in  the  present  year  must  be 
increased  in  order  to  make  it  bear  its  most  probable  share  of  the 
cost  of  facilities  provided  for  it. 

Thus  a  man  at  $2.00  a  day  would  be  really  costing  S2.95,  and 
a  bill  as  follows  : 

1 5  days  at  $4.00 $60  00 

6        "         2.50 1500 

27        "         1-25 33  75 

48  days $108  75 

would  be  increased  by  $45.60,  representing  48  days  x  cost  factor 
of  $0.95  per  day. 

The  variation  of  the  factor  measures  the  foreman's  manage- 
ment during  the  past  year.  Its  amount  is  the  cost  of  facilities 
for  doing  a  day's  work  which  is  chargeable  to  a  particular  job. 

VIII. 

COMPUTATION    OF    COST. 

Simple  case — gross  cost. 

Our  accounts  may  be  on  so  simple  a  scale  that  we  shall  require 
no  more  than  a  simple  statement  of  the  gross  cost  of  executing 
a  given  order.  To  obtain  this,  we  add  up  the  charges  contained 
on  the  service  and  material  cards  found  in  the  pigeon-hole  cor- 
responding to  the  order  in  question.  This  gives  the  net  cost. 
This,  increased  by  the  sum  of  the  products  obtained  by  multi- 
plying the  number  of  direct  days'  work  done  on  the  order  in 
question  in  each  department  by  the  cost  factor  for  that  depart- 
ment, and  diminished  by  the  sum  of  the  credits,  gives  the  gross 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     331 

cost.  In  such  a  case  the  cards  need  only  contain  room  for  the 
symbol  S-O. ;  the  symbols  C,  O.,  and  N.  being  omitted.  I 
would  recommend  this  simple  method  to  beginners,  although  I 
believe  that  all  will  find  it  to  their  advantage  as  they  become 
familiar  with  the  system  to  analyze  more  closely.  To  such  the 
following  method  commends  itself. 

Continued  analysis  of  cost. 

Sort  the  service  and  material  cards  belonging  to  a  completed 
order  according  to  Plant  and  Work,  and  add  together  their 
amounts  under  each  head.  Then  correct  the  net  cost  so  obtained 
for  indirect  expenses,  as  already  described. 

The  appraised  value  for  future  uses  of  plant  should  then  be 
charged  to  the  most  probable  standing  order  and  credited  to  the 
cost  of  work.  The  amount  thus  determined,  when  divided  by 
the  output,  gives  the  factory  cost  per  piece,  pound,  etc.  The 
factory  cost,  increased  by  its  proportion  of  the  selling  expenses, 
and  profit  added,  gives  the  selling  price. 

For  example,  we  find  the  total  cost  of  S-O.  789  corrected  for 
indirect  expenses  to  be: 

Plant $  50  00 

Work 175  00 

Gross  cost $225  00 

Suppose  that  by  inspection  of  the  cards  we  discover  that  no 
credit  has  been  given  for  the  contingent  value  of  the  patterns, 
which,  let  us  say,  is  $25.00,  and  that  they  are  kept  in  department 
No.  2.  The  omission  of  the  foreman  of  No.  2,  known  as  201, 
should  be  supplied  by  making  out  a  card  as  follows : 

One  set  patterns. 

CHARGE  TO... 2.    CREDIT  TO. .  .789.   AMOUNT,  $25.00. 

This  reduces  the  gross  cost  to  $200.00,  and  increases  correspond- 
ingly the  liability  of  S-O.  2,  subject  to  correction  by  inventory. 
(The  annual  inventory  would  correct  the  balance  of  2,  and  hence 
affect  distributively  its  charge  for  indirect  expenses  in  future. 
This  card  should  properly  have  been  made  out  by  201  when  the 


33^ 


APPENDIX. 


order  was  completed,  thus  clearing  his  mind  of  it,  and  leaving  to 
higher  authority  only  the  task  of  revision.) 

Detailed  cost  of  components  and  of  operations  thereon. 

If,  as  in  staple  products,  the  cost  is  needed  in  greater  detail,  we 
sort  the  cards  by  the  object  symbols,  and  those  having  like  object 
symbols  by  the  operation  symbols,  and  service  cards  having  like 
operation  symbols  by  departments  in  which  working,  and  those 
in  each  department  by  rates  of  wages.  This  being  done,  and 
the  charges  added  together,  and  labor  increased  by  cost  factor 
product,  we  may  ascertain  the  most  probable  cost  of  every 
operation  on  every  component.  This  is  as  far  as  any  one  would 
be  apt  to  go. 

Daily  cost  sheet. 

By  adding  up  daily  the  amounts  in  each  pigeon-hole,  and 
entering  their  net  sum  on  the  cost  sheet,  the  office  is  kept 
informed  how  and  where  the  money  is  going.  The  cards  may 
then  be  sorted  in  continuous  preparation  for  the  analysis  above 
described. 

IX. 

STOCK   ACCOUNT. 

By  entering  but  one  kind  of  material  on  each  card  we  gain 
immensely  in  flexibility  at  a  small  cost  of  trouble,  for  it  takes 
but  very  little  longer  to  fill,  say  three  cards  with  one  line  each, 
than  to  write  three  lines  on  one  card,  and  when  written  the  cards 
are  independent  of  one  other.  (This  applies  to  both  service  and 
material  cards.) 

This  feature  is  particularly  valuable  in  the  accountability  for 
Government  property,  which  happens  to  be  altogether  by  items, 
without  regard  to  values.  An  instance  of  its  immediate  utility 
to  private  works  will  suffice.  After  the  sorting,  previously 
described,  the  material  cards  in  each  pigeon-hole  may  be  re- 
sorted by  the  names  of  material  upon  them ;  this  forms  a  con- 
venient bill  of  material,  the  difference  between  which  and  even 
careful  estimates  will  often  prove  surprising. 

Space  fails  me  to  describe  all  the  advantages  following  the  inde- 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     333 

pendcnce  of  these  units  of  record,  which,  Hke  that  of  the  printer's 
type,  adapts  them  to  an  immense  variety  of  uses.  I  have  tried 
them  in  every  supposable  case  of  the  affairs  of  an  arsenal,  tram- 
meled by  all  the  precautions  imposed  by  a  most  jealous  audit, 
and  have  yet  to  find  a  case  in  which  they  fail. 


X. 

APPLICATION. 

The  data  for  an  illustrative  case  are  derived  from  the  analysis 
of  the  expenses  of  an  hypothetical  stove  foundry,  which  for  the 
past  two  years  has  been  the  subject  of  discussion  by  the  National 
Association  of  Stove  Manufacturers.* 

It  had  been  estimated  by  one  of  the  most  experienced  mem- 
bers of  that  association  that  the  gross  annual  expenses  of  a 
foundry,  capable  of  turning  out  about  3,000  tons  of  a  fair  assort- 
ment of  stoves  per  annum,  were  about  $321,000,  divided  as 
follows : 

LABOR. 

Per  ton      Per  3,000  tons. 

Molding $24  00  $72,000  00 

Mounting 8  00  24,000  00 

Pattern  making i  45  4.350  00 

Pattern  fitting  and  repairs I  50  4, 500  00 

Pattern  molding 25  750  00 

Carpenters 125  3,75000 

Cupola-men,  breaking  iron,  etc  75  2,250  00 

Cleaning  and  piling 2  00  6,000  00 

Engineer 30  900  00 

Shipping I  00  3,000  00 

General  labor 2  00  6,000  00 

Watchman 25  750  00 

Foreman,  molding  and  melting 50  i ,  500  00 

Clerks 50  1,50000 

Trucking 75  2,25000 

Miscellaneous  and  pilferings 50  1,500  00 

$45  00       $135,000  00 

*  It  is  fully  analyzed  in  the  New  York  Metal  Worker,  February  6,  and  in  the 
Chicago  Artisan  of  February  6  and  13,  1886. 


334 


APPENDIX. 


MATERIAL. 

Foundry  Costs.  Per  ton. 

Iron $20  00 

Mounting  materials,  not  including  nickel  panels  and 

rails,  etc 8  00 

Fuel  for  all  purposes 2  75 

Molding  sand  and  clay 40 

Facing 25 

Patterns,  flasks,  and  lumber  material 75 

Shipping  material 10 

Freight  and  expressage i  25 

Machinery  and  tools I  75 

Repairs 40 

Gas  and  oil 20 

Stationery  and  books 10 

Rent   I  00 

Insurance 40 

Taxes  25 

Miscellaneous  and  pilferings 40 

Castings  broken  and  discarded  that  have  been  paid 

for. . .  o I  00 


Per  3,000  tons. 
$60,000  00 

24,000  00 
8,250  00 
1,200  00 

750  00 
2,250  00 

300  00 
3.750  CO 
5,250  00 
1,200  00 

600  00 

300  00 
3,000  00 
1,200  00 

750  00 
1,200  00 

3,000  00 


$39  00   $117,000  00 


SELLING  EXPENSES. 

Per  ton.      Per  3,000  tons. 

Allowances  of  various  kinds %  i  25  $3, 750  00 

Attorneys'  fees 25  750  00 

Advertising,  catalogues,  etc i  75  5.250  00 

Bad  debts 2  00  6,000  00 

Clerks I  60  4,800  00 

Freight  on  stoves  delivered I  00  3,000  00 

Gas  and  oil 10  300  00 

Insurance 20  600  00 

Interest 2  00  6,000  00 

Discount  for  cash 2  50  7, 500  00 

Miscellaneous  and  pilferings 50  1,500  00 

Postage,  express,  and  telegrams i  00  3,000  00 

Rent I  00  3,000  00 

Stationery   15  450  00 

Travelers'  wages 2  75  8,250  00 

Travelers'  expenses  and  general  traveling 3  25  9.750  00 

Taxes 20  600  00 

President  and  Secretary i  50  4, 500  00 


$23  00 


j.ooo  00 


THE  SHOP-ORDER  SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     335 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total  labor  cost $135,000  00 

Total  foundry  cost  material 117,000  00 

Total  selling  expense 69,000  00 

$321,000  00 
DISCUSSION   OF   THE    ABOVE. 

It  must  now  appear  that  the  essence  of  the  system  proposed 
is  to  afford  means  of  making  definite  charges  of  expense  in  the 
following  order  of  preference  : 

1.  Special  order,  as  plant  or  work. 

2.  Departmental  standing  order. 

3.  General  standing  order. 

For  the  foundry  let  us  call  our  departments  and  their  standing 
orders  as  follows : 

1.  Pattern  shop. 

2.  Molding. 

3.  Melting. 

4.  Mounting. 

5.  Foundry,  unclassified. 

These  comprise  the  manufactory  proper.  Now,  let  all  the 
other  departments  be  consolidated  under  one  head,  viz. : 

10.  The  selling  department. 

The  number  of  departments  is  limited  for  simplicity's  sake. 
The  more  they  are  divided  the  more  exact  will  be  the  resulting 
costs,  but  the  more  trouble  will  it  take  to  keep  the  accounts 
separate. 

Each  of  the  items  of  expense  named  (pages  333-335)  was  dis- 
tributed among  the  departments  named,  and  for  each  item  of 
labor  the  number  of  days'  work  corresponding  to  the  amount 
distributed,  at  an  assumed  average  rate  of  wages,  was  also 
stated. 

Labor,  which,  like  molding,  mounting,  pattern  and  flask- 
making,  is  susceptible  of  being  charged  to  special  orders,  was 
called  direct  work,  and  separated  from  that  like  engineers, 
cupola-men,  and  superintendence  belonging  to  the  standing 
orders,  and  a  result  obtained  which  represented,  most  probably, 
the  actual  results  of  one  year's  work  under  the  system  pro- 
posed. 


33^ 


APPENDIX. 


TABLE   I. 

ANALYSIS  OF  LABOR  CHARGES. 


Department. 

Direct. 

Chargeable  to  Special  Shop- 
Orders. 

Indirect. 

Chargeable  to  Departmental 
or  General  Shop-Orders. 

Standing. 

Value. 

No.  of 
Days'  Work. 

Value. 

No.  of 
Days'  Work. 

I.  Patterns 

$10,500 
72,000 

24,000 

4,500 
24,000 

14,000 

$1,350 
8,000 
4.050 
1,450 
6,400 

600 

2.   Molding. 

6  980 

2,270 

925 

3,615 

3.  Melting  * 

4.  Mounting 

5.  Foundry  in  general 

Totals 

$106,500 

42,500 

$21,250 

14,390 

Labor.  Value. 

Direct $106,500. 

Indirect 21,250. 


Days'  Work. 
,   42,500 
•    14.390 


$127,750 


56,890 


TABLE   II. 

ANALYSIS  OF   CHARGES   FOR   MATERIAL. 


Departments. 

Direct. 

Indirect. 

1.  Patterns 

2.  Molding 

$1,500 
20,000 

$583 

4,863 

72,483 

5,681 

12,915 

3.   Melting  * 

4.   Mounting r  • 

Totals 

$21,500 

$96,345 

♦  See  page  339. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     337 

Combining  Tables  I.  and  II.,  we  find  the  following  total  indi- 
rect charges : 

TABLE   III. 

TOTAL   INDIRECT   CHARGES   PER   ANNUM   PER   DEPARTMENT. 


Departments. 

Labor. 

Material. 

Total. 

I.    Pattern 

|l,350 
8,000 
4.050 
1,450 
6,400 

$483 
4,863 

72,403 
5.6S1 

12,915 

$1,833 
12.863 

76.453 

7,131 

19.315 

3.   Melting 

Totals 

$21,250 

$96,345 

$117,595 

Expenses  for  shipping  (labor  and  material),  warehousemen, 
cartage,  watchman,  freight,  and  pilfering,  transferred  from  the 
foundry  data,  increased  the  sales'  account  to  $75*405,  which  is 
about  30  per  cent,  of  the  balance  of  $245,595  devoted  to  man- 
ufacturing. 

For  the  present  we  set  aside  the  direct  expenses  and  seek 
how  best  to  apportion  the  indirect  expenses  among  them.  This 
we  do  by  distributing  the  most  general  charges  among  those 
less  so,  until  the  cost  factor  for  each  department  is  obtained,  as 
follows  : 

We  first  take  the  total  general  foundry  expenses,  $19,315,  from 
Table  III.,  and  divide  them  among  i,  2,  3,  4,  according  to  the 
total  days'  work  done  in  each  department,  as  follows  : 

TABLE   IV. 

DISTRIBUTION    OF   GENERAL   FOUNDRY    EXPENSES   AMONG    DEPARTMENTS, 


Days'  Work  per  Annum. 
From  Table  I. 

—    X3 

%  H 
I.  .S 

Total  Indirect  Charges 

per  Department  from 

Table  III. 

0 

■a     " 

c  a 

Departments. 

Direct. 

Indirect. 

d.  w. 

600 
6.980 
2,270 

925 

Total. 

in   Q. 
0 

I    Patterns        

d.  w. 

4,500 
24,000 

d.  w. 

5,  TOO 
30,980 

2,270 
14,925 

53,275 

% 

1,850 

II  230 

823 

5.412 

$ 

1,833 
12,863 

76,453 
7,131 

% 

3,683 

24,093 
77,276 

12,543 

14,000 

Totals 

42,500 

10,775 

19.315 

98,280 

"7,595 

22 


338  APPENDIX. 

Next,  except  for  melting,  which  will  be  treated  later,  we 
divide  the  gross  total  indirect  expenses  for  each  department  by 
the  number  of  days'  direct  work  done  in  it  during  the  past  year, 
and  get  the  cost  factors  per  department  as  follows:  * 

1.  Patterns %o  82 

2.  Molding I  00 

4.   Mounting 90 

It  is  supposed  that  under  the  same  management  the  cost 
factors  will  not  vary  greatly  from  year  to  year.  In  this  respect 
they  will  resemble,  to  some  extent,  the  phenomena  of  life  insur- 
ance ;  so  that  such  variations  as  may  be  found  may  be  attributed 
to  causes  the  effects  of  which,  in  future  cases,  may  be  closely 
approached.  But  in  gaining  this  experience  the  following  dis- 
cussion may  serve. 

The  indirect  expenses  may  be  divided  into  two  classes :  those 
like  rent,  insurance,  salaries,  etc.,  which  are  fixed  charges ;  and 
those  which,  like  attendance,  wear,  and  waste,  have  a  closer  rela- 
tion, say  a  direct  ratio,  to  the  number  of  men  employed. 

Calling  the  fixed  charges  for  a  given  time  F ;  the  variable 

charges,  V ;  the  number  of  direct  days'  work  in  the  same  time, 

D  ;  and  the  cost  factor,  either  for  the  whole  factory  or  for  any 

one  department,  C,  we  have 

^     F+V 
C-      ^ 

If  we  change  suddenly  the  number  of  men  employed,  then  D 
will  become  D' ;  and  Fwill  become  V,  and 

For  example,  if  /^=  $12,000;  F=  $28,319,  and  Z>  =  42,500 
d.  w. 

Then  C=  $0.95. 

*  We  may  simply  take  the  quotient  of  the  aggregate  indirect  expenses  of  the  three 
departments  by  their  aggregate  of  days'  direct  work  ($0.95)  as  a  gross  cost  factor 
for  them  all.  This  course  will  be  more  simple  than  the  other,  but  its  simplicity 
will  be  purchased  at  too  great  a  cost  if  we  lose  the  opportunity  for  keeping  the  fore- 
men up  to  the  mark  by  comparing  the  expenses  of  their  respective  managements. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     339 

If  we  double  the  number  of  men  employed,  on  direct  work 
only,  then 

C  =  about  $0.80. 

If  we  discharge  half  the  force, 

Cx  —  about  $1.23,  etc. 

In  the  melting  department,  as  the  cost  of  iron  in  good  castings 
depends  so  much  more  upon  the  output  than  upon  the  number 
of  men  employed,  I  disregard  the  men  and  divide  the  cost  by 
the  w^eight  of  good  castings  produced,  say,  6,ooo,ocxD  lbs. ;  this 
gives  a  cost  per  pound  (not  for  melted  iron,  as  it  is  often 
called,  but  for  good  castings)  of  1.288  cents  per  pound;  and 
this  is  taken  as  the  cost  factor  of  that  department. 

COST   OF  A   STOVE. 

Now,  suppose  that  we  have  finished  an  order  calling  for  500 
stoves  of  a  special  size  and  pattern,  and  that  from  overrunning 
or  by  direction  521  happen  to  be  made  with  a  lot  of  spare 
parts  estimated  to  be  worth,  say,  $200.  Also  suppose  that  the 
patterns  are  estimated  to  be  worth  half  cost  for  future  work. 
We  may  establish  the  cost  per  department  as  follows : 

1.  Patterns. 

These  have  all  been  made  by  day  labor,  charged  to  the  order 
from  day  to  day.  So  has  the  material.  We  find  that  they 
have  cost  as  follows  : 

Labor,  direct,  at  average  of  $2.75 $1,500  00 

Cost  of  facilities,  545  days'  work  at  82  cents 447  00 

Value  of  material,  estimated 513  00 

Cost  of  patterns $2,460  00 

2.  Molding. 

If  this  is  done  by  the  day  and  an  account  be  kept,  as  with  the 
patterns,  the  same  course  is  followed,  except  that  no  special 
charge  is  made  for  materials,  all  of  which  comes  out  of  the  cost 
factor.  But  since  in  stove  foundries  molders  work  almost  alto- 
gether by  the  piece,  and  owing  to  the  great  number  of  different 
parts  of  different   stoves  which  they   are    apt  to   mold  at  the 


340  APPENDIX. 

same  time,  it  is  almost  impossible  for  them  to  keep  their  time 
on  each  order;  the  time  may  be  approximated  by  dividing  the 
total  piece  price  per  stove  by  the  nearest  average  daily  earnings. 
Thus,  if  the  sum  of  the  piece  prices  on  the  stove  in  question  be 
$2.25,  and  the  average  earnings  per  day  of  molders  employed  on 
this  class  of  work  be  $3.00,  each  stove  will  take  on  the  average 
three-fourths  of  a  day's  work  to  mold,  and  the  cost  of  molding 
may  be  expressed  as  follows  : 

Piece  price   $2  25 

Cost  of  facilities,  viz.,  0.75  day's  work  at  $1  per  day 75 

Cost  of  molding  each $3  00 

521  stoves  at  §3.00 $i>563  00 

3.  Melting. 

Suppose  that  the  stoves  weigh  347  pounds  each  ;  347  x  521  x 
1.288  cents 82,328  00 

4.  Mounting. 

Either  of  the  plans  described  for  the  pattern  shop  or  mold- 
ing floor  may  be  followed,  according  to  circumstances ;  but  a 
third  case  may  present  itself,  where  the  mounting  is  done  by  a 
contractor  who  employs  a  number  of  men,  the  establishment 
furnishing  power,  tools,  and  room,  and  paying  the  contractor  by 
the  piece.  This  presents  special  difficulties,  for  while  we  pay 
the  contractor  by  the  piece,  he  probably  pays  his  men  by  the 
day,  and  makes  no  attempt  to  distribute  their  time,  contenting 
himself  with  securing  a  profit  on  their  aggregate  wages. 

In  such  a  case  two  methods  are  possible.  The  first  and  most 
accurate  requires  knowledge  of  the  average  profit  made  by  the 
contractor  and  of  the  average  number  of  men  he  employs  per 
day.  Then  the  men's  share  of  the  piece  price  paid  for  mounting 
any  stove,  divided  by  their  average  daily  wages,  is  equal  to  the 
number  of  days'  work  in  mounting  that  stove. 

For  example,  suppose  that  owing  to  ignorance,  on  both  sides, 
of  the  actual  amount  of  labor  required  to  mount  any  particular 
stove,  and  to  the  concessions  which  in  long  business  intercourse 
of  this  kind  supply  the  place  of  competition,  the  prices  paid  the 
contractor  are  so  fixed  as  to  allow  him,  in  the  long  run,  a  profit 
of  about  ten  per  cent,  on  his  expenses  for  labor. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OE  ACCOUNTS.     341 

This  will  give  the  men  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  piece  price, 
which,  when  divided  among  them,  gives,  say,  an  average  per  man 
of  %\.^o  per  day.  Supposing  the  firm  pays  for  mounting  our 
stove  $1.25,  then  it  takes 

-^  of  $1.25  —  0.75  day's  work  to  mount  that  stove.* 

The  contractor's  estimated  profit  should  be  charged  to  the 
general  expense  of  mounting  (S.  O.,  No.  4),  as  he  is  virtually  a 
foreman  under  a  specially  strong  incentive  to  make  his  men 
work.  It  may  seem  rather  inquisitorial  to  require  the  contractor 
to  expose  his  pay  roll ;  but  this  is  justified  by  the  circumstance 
that  the  foundry  furnishes  the  facilities  which  are  occupied, 
worn,  and  wasted  more  nearly  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
men  employed  than  to  any  other  quantity. 

Now,  suppose  the  contractor  keeps  his  profits  to  himself. 
We  merge  him  with  the  men,  and  knowing,  for  police  purposes 
if  for  no  others,  how  many  men  are  employed  per  day  in  a  given 
time,  the  quotient  of  the  contractor's  gross  receipts  for  that 
time,  divided  by  the  number  of  days'  work  done  in  his  depart- 
ment during  that  time,  gives  the  average  cost  of  a  day's  work, 
which,  divided  into  the  piece  price  per  stove,  gives  the  day's 
work  on  that  stove  for  mounting. 

We  can  now  sum  up  the  cost  of  mounting  per  stove  as 
follows : 

Contract  price %\  25 

f  0.75  day's  work  x  $0.90  (cost  factor,  p.  25) 67 

Material,  per  material  cards,  or  estimated  from  list  of  material 

as  shown  by  drawings i   10 

Total  per  stove $3  02 

Total  for  521  stoves $i,574  00 

Omitting  ornaments,  nickel  work,  tiles,  crating,  etc.,  all  of 
which  can  be  charged  directly,  we  may  sum  up  as  follows : 

*  (Proof.      The  contractor  gets  521  x  $1.25  — $651  25 

Of  which  the  men  get  go  per  cent.,  or 586  12 

Which,  at  $150  per  day  —  390.75  days'  work, 

Or  for  521  stoves 0.75  day's  work  per  stove.) 


342  APPENDIX. 

COST   OF   SHOP-ORDER   NO.    7,654,    FOR    521    "  O.    K."    STOVES. 

Patterns $2,460  00 

Molding ••••    1,56300 

Melting  (iron  in  castings) 2,328  00 

Mounting i, 574  00 

Gross  cost $7,925  00 

Deduct  \  patterns $1,230  00 

Extra  parts 200  00 

$1,430  00 

521  stoves  at  $12.46 $6,495  00 

Foundry  cost,  each $12  46 

Selling  expenses,  at  30  per  cent 3  74 

Net  cost $16  20 

Profit,  say  at  10  per  cent i  62 

Selling  price $^7  S2 

Let  us  suppose  that  another  set  of  men  are  employed,  who 
work  so  much  faster  that  we  can  afford  to  increase  their  wages 
50  per  cent.,  the  direct  outlay  for  labor  remaining  unaltered. 

The  time  on  the  job,  and,  consequently,  its  share  of  the  indi- 
rect expenses,  will  be  one-third  less  than  before,  and  the  cost 
factor  determined  with  correspondingly  slow  labor  remaining 
unaltered,  we  shall  save  $395  in  the  cost  of  the  stoves,  or 
about  six  per  cent.* 

Of  course,  if  we  continue  with  this  grade  of  labor  for  the  same 
yearly  product,  our  cost  factor  may  increase ;  but  this  tendency 
will  probably  be  diminished  either  by  an  increase  in  product  for 
the  total  number  of  days'  work  per  annum,  or  by  a  diminution 
in  interest  charges  on  invested  and  working  capital,  or  by  both 
causes  and  other  causes  also. 

The  example  is  offered  to  show  in  dollars  and  cents  that  cheap 
labor  is  not  always  profitable,  and  how  the  rate  of  work  enters 
into  the  rate  of  wages. 

It  will  be  observed  that,  as  soon  as  the  patterns  are  made  and 
the    piece    prices  for  molding   and   mounting    established,  the 

*  The  saving  will  depend  somewhat  upon  the  departments  in  which  an  increase  of 
earnings  is  allowed.     The  illustration  supposes  the  increase  to  be  uniform. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     343 

selling  price  of  the  stove  may  be  known  almost  as  well  before  it 
is  made  as  afterward.     The  advantage  of  this  is  apparent. 

In  a  foundry  such  as  has  been  described,  the  use  of  the  service 
cards  might  be  confined  to  pattern  makers,  and  to  a  few  other 
employees  whose  time  is  distributed  among  special  orders. 

General  labor  constantly  engaged  on  standing  orders  might 
be  cared  for  by  the  usual  methods  of  time  keeping,  and  piece 
workers  by  the  means  described. 

Charges  for  material  purchased  might  be  made  in  bulk,  on 
the  principles  set  forth,  from  the  bills  received  from  dealers ;  and 
transfers  of  charges  by  foremen  be  also  by  values  in  bulk.  Or 
charges  for  material  entering  into  the  cost  factor  might  be  made 
annually,  as  shown  by  item  (e)  in  the  following  statement. 

Dr.  Cr. 

On  hand  per  last  inventory a 

Procured  since  last  inventory b 

On  hand  per  present  inventory. c 

Accounted  for  by  direct  charges  to  fabrications  since  last 
inventory,  made  out  from  drawings  or  specifications, 
p.  28 d 

Balance  charged  to  proper  departmental  standing  order e 

Experience  only  could  tell  how  much  detail  it  would  pay  to 
neglect. 

EXTRACTS  FROM   DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  F.  W.  Taylor. — I  have  read  with  very  great  interest  Mr. 
Metcalfe's  paper,  as  we  at  the  Midvale  Steel  Company  have  had 
the  experience,  during  the  past  ten  years,  of  organizing  a  system 
very  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  Metcalfe.  The  chief  idea  in  our 
system,  as  in  his,  is,  that  the  authority  for  doing  all  kinds  of 
work  should  proceed  from  one  central  office  to  the  various 
departments,  and  that  there  proper  records  should  be  kept  of 
the  work  and  reports  made  daily  to  the  central  office,  so  that  the 
superintending  department  should  be  kept  thoroughly  informed 
as  to  what  is  taking  place  throughout  the  works,  and  at  the 
same  time  no  work  could  be  done  in  the  works  without  proper 
authority.     The  details  of  the  system  have  been  very  largely 


344  APPENDIX. 

modified  as  time  went  on,  and  a  consecutive  plan,  such  as  Mr. 
Metcalfe  proposed,  would  have  been  of  great  assistance  to  us  in 
carrying  out  our  system.  There  are  certain  points,  however,  in 
Mr.  Metcalfe's  plan,  which  I  think  our  experience  shows  to  be 
somewhat  objectionable.  He  issues  to  each  of  the  men  a  book, 
something  like  a  check-book,  containing  sheets  which  they  tear 
out  and  return  to  the  ofifice  after  stating  on  them  the  work 
which  they  have  done.  We  have  found  that  any  record  which 
passes  through  the  average  workman's  hands,  and  which  he 
holds  for  any  length  of  time,  is  apt  either  to  be  soiled  or  torn. 
We  have,  therefore,  adopted  the  system  of  having  our  orders 
sent  from  the  central  office  to  the  small  offices  in  the  various 
departments  of  the  works,  in  each  of  which  there  is  a  clerk  who 
takes  charge  of  all  orders  received  from,  and  records  returned  to, 
the  central  office,  as  well  as  of  all  records  kept  in  the  depart- 
ment. 

The  clerk  or  clerks  in  these  department  offices  make,  in  all 
cases  where  it  is  practicable,  under  the  direction  of  the  foreman 
of  the  department,  written  orders  stating  what  work  is  to  be 
done,  and  how  it  is  to  be  done ;  what  order  number  to  charge  it 
to,  and  what  drawings  and  tools  are  to  be  used,  etc. 

These  orders  are  locked  up  in  suitable  bulletin-boards  with 
glass  doors  in  front,  so  that  the  men  can  see  but  not  handle 
them.  Each  man  in  the  shop  receives  from  the  shop  clerk  a 
note  or  a  card  for  every  job  that  he  is  to  undertake,  which  refers 
him  to  the  more  elaborate  order  locked  in  the  bulletin-board. 
The  note  which  each  workman  receives  gives  him  the  proper 
authority  for  doing  his  work,  and  at  the  same  time  insures  the 
concern,  to  a  certain  extent,  against  spoiled  work  which  so 
frequently  results  from  misunderstanding  verbal  directions. 
These  notes  are  also  the  means  of  conveying  all  desired  informa- 
tion about  the  work  to  which  they  refer,  both  from  the  foreman 
and  from  the  man  who  is  doing  the  work,  for  keeping  the 
records  in  the  small  offices  as  well  as  in  the  main  office.  We 
find  that  there  are  a  great  many  records  which  it  is  desirable  to 
keep  close  to  the  department  in  which  the  work  is  going  on, 
for  which  there  is  comparatively  little  need  in  the  central 
office. 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     345 

For  instance,  it  may  be  very  desirable  for  each  foreman  to  be 
able  to  place  his  hands  at  a  few  minutes'  notice  on  the  record 
of  the  piece  of  work  last  done,  similar  to  that  which  he  is  about 
to  do.  For  those  records,  of  course,  he  could  not  afford  the 
delay  of  sending  to  the  main  office,  and  it  would  be  a  very 
difficult  matter,  if  they  were  kept  there,  for  him  to  obtain  the 
information  which  he  desired  without  going  himself  and  saying 
just  what  he  wanted.  If  he,  however,  has  a  series  of  card 
records  kept  in  his  own  office,  close  to  where  he  works,  and  if 
those  records  are  arranged,  not  chronologically,  but  on  loose 
cards,  which  can  be  filed  in  such  a  way  that  the  record  of  each 
job,  as  it  is  finished,  will  be  placed  next  to  that  of  the  job  which 
most  nearly  resembles  it ;  if  the  records  are  kept  on  cards 
instead  of  books,  the  foreman  can,  with  great  ease,  obtain  any 
information  about  former  jobs  similar  to  the  one  he  is  about  to 
start  on,  either  in  the  way  of  mistakes  made,  or  suggestions 
as  to  the  best  method  of  accomplishing  the  work,  the  cost,  the 
time,  or  the  man  who  did  the  work,  etc.  In  our  system  only 
such  information  is  sent  to  the  central  office  as  is  there  needed 
to  keep  them  posted  as  to  the  cost  and  progress  of  the  work  and 
the  men's  time ;  while  in  the  department  office  is  kept  much 
fuller  information  about  the  work;  in  fact,  everything  which  the 
foreman  may  find  it  useful  to  know. 

Mr.  IV.  F.  Diirfee. — I  think  this  subject  is  one  of  the  most 
important  that  has  ever  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  this 
Society,  and  while  I  fully  concur  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Towne, 
that  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  deserving  of  our  consideration, 
I  am  somewhat  in  doubt  as  to  the  advisability  of  organizing  a 
separate  section  for  that  purpose,  being  fully  persuaded  that 
every  engineer  here  who  is  interested  in  the  management  of 
works,  or  ever  expects  to  be,  will  be  a  member  of  that  section, 
and  we  should  simply  resolve  ourselves  into  a  "  committee  of 
the  whole  "  to  consider  that  subject.  I  think  it  is  perfectly 
proper  to  bring  it  before  the  Society  as  a  body,  and  that  this 
discussion  will  demonstrate  that  it  will  have  an  interest  for  all 
of  us. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  importance  of  this  subject,  I  will 
state  some  facts  in  my  own  experience.     Some  years  ago  I  was 


346  APPENDIX. 

called  to  the  supervision  of  a  very  large  works,  employing  at 
times  a  thousand  men,  and  I  found  an  utter  destitution  of  all 
system  for  determining  the  cost  of  work  done.  As  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  accounts,  I  would  state  that  in  the 
assets  of  the  company,  and  on  its  books,  there  appeared  a  credit 
of  six  thousand  tons  of  a  certain  kind  of  coal.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  there  was  no  such  coal  on  the  premises.  The  coal,  at  that 
time,  was  worth  six  dollars  a  ton  on  the  ground,  and  there  was 
an  asset  that  it  would  puzzle  a  book-keeper  to  account  for. 
There  was  no  system  whatever  for  distributing  stores  at  the 
works,  and  no  proper  storeroom  account.  One  of  the  impor- 
tant items  of  supply  was  oil.  The  method  of  distributing  that 
oil  consisted  in  turning  the  barrels  into  an  oil  room  in  the  charge 
of  a  man,  and  everybody  who  wanted  oil  came  there  and  got  it 
without  reference  to  where  it  was  to  be  used.  There  was  no 
method  of  telling  whether  they  carried  it  home,  or  into  one 
department  of  the  mill  or  another,  or  did  anything  with  it. 
{Description  of  improved  method  omitted^ 

One  month's  trial  of  the  above  described  system  demonstrated 
a  saving  sufificient  (in  the  matter  of  oil  alone)  to  pay  all  the  cleri- 
cal force  necessary  to  the  carrying  out  of  a  complete  system  of 
cost  accounts  for  the  whole  works.  One  of  the  principal  features 
of  the  system  of  cost  accounts  was  this,  viz.:  All  supplies  which 
were  consumed  in  the  establishment  were,  when  purchased, 
charged  to  storeroom  account,  and  the  storekeeper  kept  an 
account  with  each  department  of  the  works  as  rigidly  as  if  he 
were  a  private  merchant  dealing  with  the  same  department.  In 
this  way  waste,  and  what  was  far  worse,  petty  thievery,  was  pre- 
vented, and  a  degree  of  responsibility  fixed  upon  the  heads  of 
the  several  departments  which  resulted  in  increased  efficiency  to 
a  marked  degree. 

In  regard  to  Captain  Metcalfe's  paper,  I  am  inclined  to  think, 
from  what  I  have  studied  of  his  very  valuable  book  and  of  the 
paper,  that  his  system  is  an  excellent  one.  Of  course,  it  needs 
modification  to  suit  particular  cases.  There  is  some  question  in 
my  mind  whether  or  not  the  plan  of  using  a  separate  ticket  for 
every  little  transaction  is  always  the  best.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
it  is,  in  cases  where  each  man  does  a  good  deal  of  one  kind  of 


THE  SHOP-ORDER  SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     347 

work.  But  in  a  machine-shop  where  there  is  a  production  of  a 
great  variety  of  articles,  especially  in  a  small  shop  where  each 
man  works  on  from  one  to  ten  separate  jobs  each  day,  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  is  best.  I  had  recently  a  little  experience  in 
this  matter  myself,  and  found  that  my  associates  were  somewhat 
averse  to  carrying  out  the  ticket  system,  because  in  our  shop, 
employing  seventy  or  eighty  men,  each  man  having  from  one  to 
ten  jobs  a  day  (averaging  perhaps  five),  if  separate  tickets  were 
used  for  all  the  recording  of  time,  it  averaged  five  tickets  to 
each  man  per  day,  or  thirty  per  week,  which  made  the  total 
very  large.  If  there  were  a  hundred  men  in  the  shop,  there 
would  be  three  thousand  tickets.  I  have  not  any  question  in 
my  mind  that  it  docs  pay  to  handle  that  number  of  tickets,  for 
the  ease  with  which  they  can  be  assorted,  compared  with  post- 
ing and  rewriting  in  separate  books ;  but  when  it  comes  to  the 
amount  of  paper  and  necessary  printing,  I  do  not  know  about  it. 
Of  course,  in  the  card  system  we  only  use  ten  tickets  where  a 
man  does  ten  jobs,  and  only  one  where  a  man  does  one  job  in  a 
day,  and  we  waste  no  paper  so  far  as  that  part  of  the  ticket  is 
concerned  where  the  writing  goes ;  but  each  one  must  have  a 
certain  space  for  a  printed  heading,  and  there  must  be  the  waste 
of  paper  due  to  that  heading  and,  also,  the  cost  of  the  print- 
ing. If,  however,  you  take  one  paper,  or  a  larger  card,  for  the 
recording  of  one  mans  time  for  a  week,  you  have  only  one 
hundred  such  papers,  instead  of  three  thousand.  A  good  deal  of 
paper  is,  of  course,  wasted  in  cases  where  a  man  fills  only  one 
space  out  of  ten  provided.  It  is  now  a  serious  practical  question 
in  my  mind  which  of  the  systems  is  best  for  my  own  particular 
case.  I  would  like  to  ask  Captain  Metcalfe's  opinion  on  this 
point — as  to  how  great  an  evil  is  the  necessary  cost  of  extra 
paper  and  printing  on  the  numerous  tickets  used  where  a  small 
shop  does  a  great  variety  of  work,  and  where  each  of  the  men 
has  a  great  variety  of  jobs. 

Captain  Metcalfe. — I  have  had  to  depend  largely  for  experi- 
ments on  what  recognition  my  system  might  meet  from  private 
individuals  and  corporations.  I  got  it  up  in  the  government  works 
of  which  I  had  charge,  but  I  have  not  had  a  full  opportunity  of 
trying  it  as  I  should  like,  and  so  cannot  answer  him  explicitly.    Of 


348  APPENDIX. 

the  general  truth  of  the  principles  on  which  it  is  based  I  have  no 
possible  question.  I  began  the  trial  of  it  at  Frankford  Arsenal, 
where  we  had  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  people.  I 
generally  had  about  a  hundred  orders  under  way,  of  different 
kinds,  some  little  jobs  and  some  quite  important  ones.  There, 
instead  of  the  unit  card  proposed,  we  had  a  card  with  ten  hori- 
zontal lines  on  it,  allowing  for  the  reporting  of  ten  jobs,  if 
necessary,  one  for  every  hour  in  the  day.  The  saving  of  labor 
there  was  very  great.  I  was  to  hire  a  time  clerk.  He  had  two 
little  boys  to  assist  him  in  posting  the  cards.  This  kind  of  card 
made  a  very  great  change  and  helped  very  much.  But  still  I 
did  not  get  my  reports  in  at  the  end  of  the  month  as  quickly  as 
I  expected.  I  went  out  West.  The  selfish  element  entered  still 
more  largely  into  my  facilities,  for  I  had  to  do  almost  all  the 
work  myself.  I  was  allowed  a  soldier,  however,  and  by  the  use 
of  these  single  card  tickets  he  did  everything  in  about  an  hour  a 
day.  We  did  not  have  as  many  men,  but  I  had  about  sixty  or 
eighty,  and  this  soldier  did  all  of  the  sorting  and  all  of  the  com- 
puting, and  I  had  everything  ready  at  the  first  day  of  the  month, 
a  full  account  of  everything  done  the  month  before,  the  cost  of 
every  order  analyzed  and  balanced  with  the  pay-roll.  I  made  a 
computation  the  other  day  at  the  Watervliet  Arsenal,  West 
Troy,  where  I  am  stationed  now,  but  where  I  have  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  management  of  the  system.  I  found 
that  an  average  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  a  great  many 
various  capacities  were  making  cotton  duck  equipments,  har- 
ness, canteens,  straps,  steel  and  wooden  gun  carriages,  and  a 
great  many  other  parts  of  military  furnishing.  I  found  that 
about  l^V  to  \^-^  orders  per  day  were  worked  on  per  man.  Some 
of  the  men  went  up  to  four,  or  five,  or  six  jobs  a  day— general 
utility  men.  Others  work  on  the  same  jobs  steadily  day  after 
day.  I  am  very  confident  in  saying  that  anj^body  who  tries  it 
will  be  very  well  satisfied  with  the  great  saving  and  the  great 
readiness  with  which  any  desired  result  can  be  immediately 
attained.     I  think  that  answers  Mr.  Smith's  question. 

Mr.  Smith. — Regarding  the  relative  amount  of  paper  and 
printing  in  the  two  systems  I  wanted  to  hear,  if  you  please. 

Captain  Metcalfe. — Of  course,  in  the  independent  card  system 


THE  SHOF-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     349 

there  would  be  more  paper  and  printing.  As  to  the  statement 
of  Mr.  Taylor,  who  is  connected,  I  believe,  with  Messrs.  William 
Sellers  &  Co.,  to  whom  I  am  under  many  obligations,  I  think  he 
somewhat  confuses  the  order  tickets  and  the  time  cards.  The 
order  tickets  are  substantially  such  as  he  represents  as  being 
used  in  his  works,  although  most  any  convenient  way  of  making 
the  orders  known  to  the  workmen  may  be  used.  A  bulletin- 
board  will  answer  as  well  as  anything,  if  nothing  better  can  be 
found.  Verbal  transmission  is  the  readiest,  but,  of  course,  it 
loses  the  character  of  a  distinctive  record.  The  order  tickets  are 
not  torn  ;  they  are  simply  passed  out  and  then  returned  and  the 
transaction  is  cancelled.  The  only  things  which  are  torn  are  the 
labor  cards,  or  service  cards  as  I  call  them,  which  are  torn  off 
from  the  top  of  a  book,  so  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  top 
one,  they  will  always  be  reasonably  clean.  I  have  found  no 
trouble  with  that.  In  my  experience  at  the  Benicia  Arsenal  the 
men  kept  them  in  little  tin  boxes  outside  their  benches  and 
filled  them  out  as  their  work  went  on. 

Then,  as  to  Mr.  Anderson's  remarks  about  the  sheets  getting 
dilapidated  and  the  difficulty  of  keeping  track  of  them,  I  found 
no  trouble  of  that  kind.  I  never  found  one  of  these  cards 
to  be  lost.  You  do  not  lose  them  any  more  than  you  lose 
money.  They  are  used  as  if  to  buy  things  with,  and  go  on  from 
hand  to  hand  until  they  get  into  the  ofifice,  where  they  are  all 
settled  into  their  proper  places.  The  receipt  of  the  order  ticket 
is  indicated  by  each  foreman's  punch-marks  on  the  duplicate 
retained  by  the  superintendent,  so  that,  having  in  his  rack  that 
ticket,  the  superintendent  may  see  from  a  glance  at  the  punch- 
marks  upon  it  who  has  received  this  order,  and  in  time  that 
it  has  been  completed  by  those  whose  numbers  in  the  "  com- 
pletion "  line  he  has  punched  out  as  their  own  cards  come  in 
completed. 

All  the  record  necessary  is  comprised  on  the  original  ticket. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Doanc. — I  merely  rise  to  ask  the  captain  to  very 
kindly  tell  us  how  he  arrived  at  the  basis  of  cost  ;  after  he  got 
the  number  of  hours  of  labor,  how  he  arrived  at  the  cost  of  the 
product. 

Mr.  Taylor. — I  think  Mr.  Metcalfe  has  misunderstood  me  if 


350 


APPENDIX. 


he  is  of  the  opinion  that  I  do  not  approve  of  the  card  system. 
I  thoroughly  approve  of  the  card  system.  We  have  tried  it 
practically  in  our  works  for  nearly  ten  years.  It  is  simply  the 
working  out  of  one  part  of  the  details  of  his  system  that  I  do  not 
approve  of. 

His  suggestion  is,  that  each  workman  should  have  a  book  con- 
taining ten,  or  twenty,  or  a  hundred  or  more  cards,  something 
like  a  check  book,  and  that  each  day  he  shall  return  one  of  those 
cards  to  the  ofifice,  punched  by  the  foreman  of  the  shop,  and  my 
objection  was  to  that  part  of  the  system. 

I  think  that  the  same  card,  the  same  check  which  he  suggests  as 
being  useful  for  conveying  the  time  and  the  work  done,  and  the 
authority  and  so  forth,  to  the  central  ofifiice,  can  be  used  to  record 
a  great  variety  of  other  facts  which  are  exceedingly  interesting 
and  valuable.  In  point  of  fact,  in  our  works  we  use  a  great 
variety  of  time  cards,  which  proceed,  in  our  case,  first  from  the 
clerk  to  the  workman,  and  then  from  the  workman  back  to  the 
clerk. 

We  have,  at  least,  I  should  think,  two  hundred  varieties  of 
printed  cards,  differing  according  to  the  information  desired  to 
be  conveyed  from  the  workman  to  the  office,  all  of  them, 
however,  containing,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  same  informa- 
tion ;  that  is,  each  card  conveys  the  same  information  and 
other  information  besides,  as  is  recorded  on  Mr.  Metcalfe's 
blanks. 

My  criticism  was  that  the  information  conveyed  by  his  cards 
was  not  sufficient.  I  fail  also  to  see  the  advantage  of  using 
a  punch,  as  described  by  Mr.  Metcalfe.  The  initial  of  the  fore- 
man, or  the  workman,  or  the  clerk,  is  more  rapidly  made  with  a 
pen  or  pencil  at  the  same  time  as  the  writing  is  done  on  the 
card  than  it  can  be  with  a  punch,  and  it  retains  a  certain  amount 
of  individuality. 

Anyone  who  gets  hold  of  a  punch  can  punch  the  authority 
for  doing  work  of  any  extent  or  variety  that  he  chooses;  but 
handwriting  is  much  more  difficult  to  counterfeit. 

Mr.  Obcrlin  Smith. — I  thoroughly  believe  in  Captain  Metcalfe's 
theory  of  the  subject,  and  in  his  system  as  a  whole  ;  but  I  believe 
with  the  other  gentlemen  here  that  some  modifications  may  be 


THE  SHOP-ORDER  SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     351 

necessary  for  different  shops.  I  confess  I  am  a  little  calarmed  at 
the  two  or  three  thousand  tickets  a  week,  which  I  might  have  to 
use  if  I  carried  it  out  strictly  ;  but  I  believe,  in  a  great  many 
shops,  the  system  exactly  as  it  stands  is  just  the  thing.  There 
may  be  other  shops  where  a  modification  making  a  card  last 
a  week  instead  of  a  day  for  one  workman  would  be  better. 
There  may  be  cases  where  it  would  be  better  to  put  more  than 
one  job  on  the  card,  and  there  are  cases,  as  I  said,  where  the 
Metcalfe  system  could  be  used  in  its  entirety.  But  all  of  this 
wants  looking  up,  and  in  the  happy  future  I  hope  that  some 
committee  or  commission  (perhaps  of  this  Society)  will  have  a 
chance  to  devise  some  systems  of  shop  organization,  not  07ie 
system  only,  because  we  cannot  apply  one  to  all  kinds  of  shops. 
The  shops  of  this  country  want  classifying  into  so  many  classes, 
and  the  best  possible  kind  of  organization  for  each  will  be  ascer- 
tained only  by  careful  study  and  by  the  collation  of  the  expe- 
rience of  a  great  many  persons. 

In  regard  to  the  soiling  of  the  shop  cards,  I  do  not  think  it 
amounts  to  anything.  In  the  concern  with  which  I  am  con- 
nected we  have  allowed  workmen  to  write  directly  on  cards  for 
a  long  time.  We  have  never  had  any  trouble  with  their  being 
lost  or  soiled,  or  too  much  torn  for  practical  use. 

Captain  Metcalfe. — So  many  suggestions  have  been  made,  it 
is  rather  hard  to  take  them  all  up  in  order,  and  I  may  omit 
some. 

Mr.  Hawkins  made  a  point  about  men  idling.  That  suggests 
to  me  one  point  which  I  had  not  dwelt  upon,  which  is,  that  by 
making  a  workman  start  a  record  of  what  work  he  is  doing,  it 
gives  him  an  interest  in  doing  it  rapidly  from  a  feeling  that  it 
will  be  recorded  somewhere  in  the  office. 

A  gentleman  asked  me  about  the  cost  of  production.  The 
workman  has  to  charge  his  time  every  day  to  some  job  so  as  to 
get  paid  for  it.  He  is  presumably  disincerested  in  the  cost  of 
any  particular  job,  so  he  tends  to  put  it  to  the  most  probable 
one.  We  check  his  record  by  its  verification  by  the  foreman, 
and  we  make  the  probability  greater  by  recording  everything  as 
nearly  as  possible  at  the  time  when  it  was  done.  I  believe  that 
the  tendency  will  be  to  charge  expenses — in  fact,  I  have  noticed 


352  APPENDIX. 

it  myself — to  charge  expenses  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  time 
when  they  are  incurred.  Then  the  record  is  shoved  away  and 
passed  on  to  another  person. 

The  general  scheme  is  this:  You  stand  in  the  center  of  your 
works,  give  your  orders,  and  echoes  come  back  to  you  telling 
what  is  going  on.  Now,  these  being  physical  items  having  indi- 
vidual numbers,  to  which  labor  and  material  are  charged,  they 
may  be  assorted  in  pigeon-holes  corresponding  to  the  orders. 
They  can  be  sorted  from  time  to  time  during  the  progress  of  the 
work,  so  that,  for  example,  the  number  of  hours*  work  by  opera- 
tives of  the  same  class  of  wages  being  noted  to  get  the  cost  of 
labor  to  date,  you  will  merely  have  to  add  in  those  which  have 
not  been  assorted.  The  differentiation  can  be  carried  still 
further,  if  necessary,  so  that,  by  providing  in  the  beginning  for 
a  more  complete  analysis,  the  number  of  days'  or  hours'  work 
by  each  class  of  men  on  each  component  in  that  job  may  also 
be  ascertained. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Doane. — My  query  had  reference  to  the  bases  on 
which  Captain  Metcalfe  proposes  to  apportion  the  incidental 
expenses  of  an  establishment. 

Captain  Metcalfe. — The  cost  of  work  is  made  up,  I  believe,  of 
the  cost  of  labor,  the  cost  of  material,  and  its  fair  share  of  the 
incidental  expenses  of  the  establishment.  I  believe  that  the 
incidental  expenses  of  an  establishment  should  be  distributed  on 
the  basis  of  the  quantity  of  labor  which  the  establishment  holds, 
by  what  I  call  a  cost  factor.  I  find  it  is  used  in  several  shops, 
Mr.  Smith's  among  others.  I  divide  the  incidental  expenses  of 
each  department,  plus  their  fair  share  of  the  general  expenses 
of  the  whole  factory,  by  the  number  of  days'  labor  done  in  that 
department  during  the  past  year.  That  gives  us,  say  $1.25  per 
day.  Rent,  insurance,  taxes,  salaries,  motive  power,  lighting, 
are  all  in  the  nature  of  facilities  for  the  performance  of  labor.  I 
once  applied  this  method  to  the  case  of  a  stove  factory,  and 
with  some  satisfaction  to  those  who  heard  me,  I  believe.  If  the 
price  of  iron  goes  up,  your  incidental  expenses  do  not  increase. 
If  your  change  of  material  were  to  be  very  great,  say  from  an 
iron  stove  to  a  brass  stove,  your  cost  for  motive  power,  etc., 
would  not  be  any  greater,  so  I  leave  material  entirely  out  of  the 


THE  SHOP-ORDER   SYSTEM  OF  ACCOUNTS.     353. 

question  and  put  these  expenses  with  the  cost  of  labor.  But  I 
distribute  it  according  to  the  actual  number  of  days'  work  irre- 
spective of  their  cost.  Poor  labor  costs  more  to  watch  it  than 
dear  labor.  But  if  you  attempted  to  divide  your  incidental 
expenses  according  to  the  cost  of  labor,  the  difference  would  be 
the  other  way.  You  would  have  to  charge  more  for  dear  labor 
than  for  cheap  labor. 

As  to  Home  Rule  in  the  departments,  that  would  be  a  ques-     j 
tion  of  locality.     It  is  not  necessary  that  everything  should  be    /  ■* 
run  from  the  centralized  power.  -^ 


23 


INDEX. 


A.  PAGE. 

A.  (Attendance) loo,  105 

Abbreviations  of  title 91 

Abstract  of  disbursements.. 255,  257,  303 

Abstract  of  expenditures..  1 1,  46,  137,  264 

Abstract  of  fabrications 11,  13,  137 

Abstract  of  purchases 13,  49,  253,  255 

256,  257,  262 

Abstract  of  receipts  and  issues 10 

Abstract  of  sales 45,  53 

Abstract  space  in  material  card  filled 

by 178 

Abstracts  analyzed 140,  173 

Abstracts,  annual 11,  48 

Abstracts  B  and  5,  changes  proposed 

in 137 

Abstracts,  compilation  of 47,  264 

Abstracts,  designation  of 41,  45,  249 

Abstracts  in  detail  not  required 10 

Abstracts  furnished  O.  S-K.  by  CO.  11 
Abstracts,  present  method  of  prejDar- 

ing 47 

Abstracts,  proposed  schedule  of..  140,  173 
Abstracts,  single,  proposed  method  of 

compiling 265 

Abstracts    relating   to   C.    S.    return, 

criticism  of 53 

Abstracts,  verification  of 265 

Accounts,  arsenal,  definition  of  terms,  34 

41 
Accounts  for  labor  and  material,  re- 
quirements of 38 

Accountability  for  public  property.  .8,  12 

Accountability  for  public  funds 12,  256 

260,  261,  275 

Actual  space,  material  card 168,  187 

Address  space  filled,  when 178 

Administration,  value  of,  measured  by 

cost 17 

Agencies  defined 42 


Agencies  indicated  in  title  section  of 

material  card 168 

Altering  nomenclature..  177,  184,248,  262 
Ammunition,  symbolic  nomenclature 

in  detail 123 

Amount  space,  material  card 169,   1 78 

Analysis  of  abstracts 173 

Analysis  of  cost 292 

Analysis  of  expenditures  of  money  as 

to  objects 300 

Analysis  illustrated  by  tree 98,   102 

Analysis  limited  by  definiteness  of  first 

charges 98,   143,  303 

Analysis  of  labor  on  time  book . .  298,  302 
Analysis  of  purchases  as  to  appropria- 
tions    257 

Analysis  of  services  according  to  ap- 
propriations   298 

Annual  abstracts 11,48,     55 

Annual  return lo,     48 

Application  to  private  shops 23,  309 

Appraisal  of  plant 198 

Appropriations 12,  34,  275,  282,  303 

Appropriation  sheet 282 

Approval  by  C.  O.  of  all  requisitions,  174 
Approval  by  C.  O.  of  his  own  orders,  69 
Approval   by   C.    O.    of  transactions 

with  Z 1 70 

Approval  in  part  of  requisition 1 72,  222 

Arsenal  accounts,  definition  of  terms 

used  in 34,     41 

Arsenal  books  required  to  be  kept,  14,     23 

Arsenal,  breaking  up 232 

Arsenal  compared  to  household ..     31 

Arsenal  departments,  military  post 35 

Arsenals,  issues  from 7,  9,  206,  230 

Arsenals,  organization  of 27,     83 

Arsenals,    mechanical    operations   of, 
classified 127 


556 


INDEX. 


Arsenal  records 34 

Arsenal  responsibility  to  Chief  of  Ord- 
nance and  Treasury 36 

Arsenal  return 138,  265 

Articles  found  on  post 137,  208 

Assistance,  recognition  of,  18,  27,  273,  300 

Assistants  to  C.  O.  proposed 83 

Assumed  space,  material  card 169,  187 

Attendance loo,  105 

Authority  space 217 

B. 
Balances  available  for  expenditure  de- 
termined  278,  282 

Benicia  Arsenal,  shop-order  No.  14..  217 

Benicia  Arsenal,  standing  orders  at..  144 

Benicia  Arsenal,  system  applied  at 21 

Bills,  fly.     (See  Fly  bills) 257 

Books  dispensed  with 19,  21 

Books,  objections  to 77 

Books  required  to  be  kept  at  an  arse- 
nal   14 

Books  versus  cards 7 

Boxes,  symbolic  nomenclature  of,  122,  124 

Breaking  up  arsenals 232 

.Broken  sets,  issue  of 233 

C. 

O.  (Character  Oi  work) 99 

Cannon  primers,  nomenclature  of 124 

Cards  applied  to  book-keeping 22,  86 

Cards,  objections  to 86 

Cards  required,  list  of 89 

Cards  summed  up  directly 266 

Cards  used  for  preparmg catalogues..  85 

Cards  versus  books 77 

Cartridge  metal  balanced 220 

Cartridge  scrap 1 94,  206,  220 

Cartridges,  &c.,  symbolic  nomencla- 
ture in  detail 123 

Cartridge  tools  expended 204 

Cases  in  practice  with  material  card. .  179 
Case  I,  material  from  store  to  be  held 

in  charge 180 

Case  2,  material  from  Z.  to  be  held  in 

charge 184 

Case  3,  material   from   Z.    expended 

on  arrival 188 


Case  4,  fabrication  kept  in  charge 192 

Case  5,  fabrication  turned  into  store,  194 
Case  6,  fabrication  transferred  between 

shop-orders 196 

Case  7,  fabrication  reported  of  plant 

remaining  on  hand 198 

Case  8,  returning  surplus  material  to 

store 200 

Cases  9  and  10,  expending  material  in 

charge 202,  204,  2x4 

Case  1 1,  material  issued  to  Z.  by  fore- 
man   ^ 206 

Case  12,  material  found  or  taken  up..   208 

Case  13,  material  dropped 210 

Case  14,  material  transferred  between 

classes 212 

Case  15,  material  transferred  between 

shop-orders 214 

Case  16,  taking  inventory 217 

Case  17,  material  transactions  between 

foremen 220 

Cases  18  and  19,  material  received  by 

storekeepers  from  Z 222 

Case  20,  approval  in  part  of  requisi- 
tion     222 

Case  21,  storekeeper's  issue  to  Z 230 

Cases  22,  23,  24  and  25,  storekeeper's 

issue  on  requisition 234 

Cash  accountability,  present  papers..  250 
Cash  accountability,  proposed  papers,  256 

260,  275 

Certificates  of  inspection 250,  256,  260 

Change  of  name  by  fabrication 39 

Character  of  work,  symbol  of 99,   102 

Charging  labor  of  soldier  workmen..  273 
Charging  material  issued  from  store,   175 

202,  217 
Chief  of  Ordnance,  responsibility  of 

arsenal  to 36 

Claims 19,     23 

Classification  and  nomenclature  of  ma- 
terial       43 

Classification  of  expenditures 46,  264 

Class  space,  material  card 168,   178 

Classification  of  operations  of  a  ma- 
chine shop 128,   133 

Class  symbols 107,  1 19,    123 

Clerks  combined  with  foremen 77 


INDEX. 


357 


Clerks  determining  cost  of  work,  pres- 
ent method 74 

Clerks'  functions  defined 78 

Coal,  expenditure  of 202 

Combination  of  foremen  with  clerks . .  76 

Combination  tools,  objections  to 76 

Commanding  Officer  approves  all  req- 
uisitions    1 74 

Commanding  Officer,  duties  of 8 

Commanding    Officer    ordering    sup- 
plies directly 174,  222 

Commanding    Officer    and   O.    S-K., 

dual  responsibility 28 

Commanding  Officer,  proposed  expan- 
sion of  functions  of 134 

Commandmg     Officer,    property    ac- 
countability of 13,  41 

Commanding  Officer,  punch-mark —  170 
174,  177,  184,  210,  230,  233 
Commanding   Officer's  recurrent  ap- 
provals criticized 67,  69 

Commanding  Officer  revises  all  com- 
munications with  Z 31,  170 

Commercial  value  of  machinery 218 

Communication  with  Z.  through  C.  O.  31 

177 

Comparison  with  household 31 

Comparison  with  private  shops 37,  7^ 

Compilation  of  returns,  present  and 

proposed 48,  265 

Compilation  of  abstracts,  present  and 

proposed 47,  264 

Completed  fabrications  reported. .  194,  198 

204,  274,  306 

Components 106,  107,  ic8 

Component'operations,  labor  for  and 

cost  of,  determined 292 

Component  parts  of  sets  enumerated,  233 
Component  parts,  transfer  of,  between 

shop-orders 196 

Condition  changed  by  operations 127 

Condition  space,  material  card 168 

Condition  of  business  exhibited..  146,  234 

262 
Consecutive  transactions  on  material 

card 1 78,  222 

Consolidated  analysis  of  cost  of  work,  296 


Consolidation  of  completed  returns ...    138 

265 
Correspondence  marks,  when  not  re- 
quired   1 70,   iSo 

Correspondence    space    on    material 

card 1 70,   1 79 

Correspondence    between    pay    and 

property  vouchers 250,  262 

Correspondence  card 89 

Cost  clerk,  duties  of 170,  177,  266 

Cost,  constituents  of 72,     97 

Cost,  determination  of,  by  clerks  and 

foremen,  present  method 72 

Cost  determined  by  proposed  method,  292 

Cost  of  administration  determined 17 

Cost  of  labor  determined  by  present 

methods 72 

Cost  of  labor  for  component  operations 

determined  by  proposed  method —  292 
Cost  of  material  determined  by  pres- 
ent method 73 

Cost  of  material  determined  by  pro- 
posed method 294 

Cost  of  product  determined... 37,  72,  278 

296 
Cost  reconciled  with  disbursements..  289 

Cost  of  service  determined 292 

Cost  transferred  between  shop-orders,  278 

Cost  of  work,  detailed  knowledge  of,     17 

98,  102,  269,  296 

Cost  section,  material  card 169 

Cost  sheet  described 272,  275 

Cost  sheet  proved 290 

Cost  sheet  reconciled  with  pay-roll..   269 

Cost  of  work  analyzed 292 

Course  of  cards 98,  170,   179 

Credit  entries 176,274,  281 

Crediting  material  received  into  store,   1 76 

Credit  sheet 281 

Criticism  of  abstracts  relating  to  C. 

S.  return 53 

Criticism  of  abstract  of  sales 53 

Criticism  of  C.  O.'s  recurrent  approval,     67 

69 
Criticism  of  current  service  return. ..     54 
Criticism   of  present  methods,    gen- 
eral  23,     76 


358 


INDEX. 


Criticism  of  present  methods  of  com- 
piling abstract  C 49 

Criticism  of  present  methods  of  in- 
specting material 68 

Criticism  of  present  methods  of  pro- 
curing material 67 

Criticism  of  property  return  and  of 

inventory 54 

Current  service  return 9,  11,  13,  41 

134,  244,  265 

Current  service  return,  proposed  scope 

of 134 

Cutting  operations  causing  change  of 

form 129 

Cyclostylic  pen 230,  266 

D. 

Dating  the  material  card 178 

Dating  service  card 154 

Day  work,  record  of 152,  272 

Deliberation  by  C.  O.  on  cards 184 

Defenseless  position  of  O.  S-K 50 

Definition  of  terms  used  in  arsenal 

accounts 41 

Definition  of  terms  used  in  nomen- 
clature    106 

Denominations  of  money  for  pay-roll,  298 

Departmental  standing  orders.  ..218,  309 

Deputies  of  officer  in  charge 32 

Deputies  of  O.  S-K 33 

Descriptive  symbols 107,  119,  123,  125 

Designation  of  abstracts 45,  139 

Destination  of  cards 177,  248 

Details,  correctness  of,  important,  37,  98 

Deterioration 218 

Determining  balance  available  for  ex- 
penditure.   282 

Determining  cost  of  product 1 70,  292 

Determining  material  on  hand 54,  249 

Determining  miscellaneous  expenses,  67 

74,  97,  166,  218 

Determining  price  for  piecework...  38 
Difference  between  accountability  for 

labor  and  material 38 

Difference  between  quantities  required 

and  received 187 

Difference  between  systems,  present 

and  proposed 149 


Difficult  interpretation  of  present  time 

record 63 

Difficulty  of  returning  surplus  to  store,  70 

Direct  issues 137,  206 

Direct  transactions 135 

Disadvantages  of  wages  tables.     (See 

objections. ) 269 

Disbursements 12 

Disbursements,  abstract  of.  .255,  257,  303 

Disbursements  reconciled  with  costs,  2S9 
Disproportionate    attention    paid    to 

material  records 38 

Distribution  of  material  cards 1 73 

Distribution  of  omitted  charges 176 

Double  entries  in  cost  section 1 76 

Double  entries,  treatment  of,  by  cost 

clerk 274,  281 

Drawing  material  from  store 30,  180 

Dropping  material 13,  210 

Dual  responsibility  of  C.  O.  and  O. 

S-K 28 

Duplicate  material  card 274 

Duties  of  Commanding  Officer 8 

Duties  of  cost  clerk 266 

Duties  of  Ordnance  Officers 8,  37 

Duties  of  O.  S-K 12 

Duties  of  stock  clerk 243,  260 

Duties  of  storekeepers -iiln  ^l^i  222 


Electric  pen 230,  266 

Emergencies 206,  222 

Entering   material   cards    on  journal 

and  ledger 248 

Entering  service  cards  on  cost  sheet,  272 

Equipments,  issue  of 233 

Erasures  on  material  card 177 

Estimates,    information   for,    derived 

from 1 7,  63,  279,  286 

Evidence  of  purchase  not  evidence  of 

receipt 49 

Examples  in  symbolic  notation 131 

Executive  officer  in  proposed  system,  83 
Executive  officer  signs  direct  issues  to 

Z 206 

Exhibit  of  condition  of  business . .  146,  234 

262 
External  relations,  present 41 


INDEX. 


359 


External  relations,  proposed 134 

External  services,  cards  for 156,  2  72 

Expenditures  (of  material),  abstractof,  11 

46,  137 
Expenditures  of  ammunition  and  other 

material 14,  46 

Expenditures  at  arsenals 11 

Expenditure  on  arrival 188 

Expenditures,  classification  of 46,  264 

Expenditures  of  coal 202 

Expenditures,    determination  of  bal- 
ance available  for 282 

Expenditures  omitted 204 

Expenditure  of  material  in  charge...  202 

Expenditure  of  money,  statement  of,  300 

Expenditure  of  tools 204 

Expenditures,    unconsumed,    present 

treatment  of 30 

Experience  and  applied  art  relations,  1 7 

F. 

Fabrications,  abstractof 13,  137,  177 

Fabrication  changing  name  of  mate- 
rial    39 

Fabrication  complete,  reported.  ..274,  306 

Fabrication  incomplete,  price  of 178 

Fabrication  incomplete,  reported 274 

Fabrication  indicated  on  material  card,  1 77 

188,  192,  194,  196 
Fabrications  issued  immediately  after 

receipt  into  store 234 

Fabrications,  monthly  report  of 10,  274 

306 

Fabrication  of  paint,  example 214 

Fabrication  kept  in  charge 194,  198 

Fabrication  transferred 196,  206 

Fabrication  turned  into  store 194 

Fabrications  untouched,  reported 306 

Fly  bills  evidence  of  purchase 49 

Fly  bills,  importance  of 137 

Fly  bills,  register  of 262 

Foremen  combined  with  clerks,  58, 65,  76 
Foremen  determining  cost  of  work, 

present  method 72 

Foremen's  functions  defined 78 

Foremen,  issue  to  Z  by 206 

Foremen    and    storekeepers,    trans- 
actions between 1 74,  1 76 


Foremen,  transactions  with  each  other,  1 76 

220 

Form  changed  by  operations 127 

Forms  prescribed u,     14 

Frankford  Arsenal,  ledger  form 243 

P'rankford  Arsenal,  relation  to  system 

proposed 18 

Frankford  Arsenal,  standing  orders  at,  I43 
Frankford  Arsenal,  symbolic  nomen- 
clature of  staple  products  in  detail,   123 

Fries,  Mr.  H.  T 20,  243 

Functions,  independence  of 76 

Functions    of    foremen    and     store- 
keepers     1 76 

Fuzes,  time,  nomenclature 123 


Gatling  guns,  issue  of 233 

General  remarks  on  material  card 1 70 

General  remarks  on  present  system 

and  need  of  a  better  one 50 

General  remarks  on  service  card 155 

General  remarks  on  symbols 102 

H. 

Harness,  issue  of,  in  detail 233 

Hired  return 300 

History  of  operation  of  proposed  sys- 
tem at  arsenals 18,     22 

Household,    comparison    of   arsenal 
with 31 


Importance  of  proper  accountability 

for  material 38 

In  charge,  material 175 

Incoming  stores,  receipt  of 187 

Incomplete  fabrications  reported,  275,  306 

Indebtedness  exhibited 262,  282 

Independence  of  functions 76 

Independence  of  representative  units 

of  record 87,  152,  172,  243 

Inspector  and  assistant  inspector.. 68,  261 

Inspection  certificates 250,  256,  260 

Inspection  of  materials 68,   187 

Instruments  of  the  proposed  system,     85 

97 
Internal  relations,  present  system...  57 
Internal  relations,  proposed  system..   151 


360 


INDEX. 


Inventory 9,  54,  176,  290 

Inventory,  proposed  method  of  tak- 
ing     217 

Inventory  and  property  return,  criti- 
cism of 54 

Invoices  to  O.  S-K.  by  C.  0 11,  135 

Involved  cases  in  practice 214,  222 

Issues  from  arsenals 19,  206,  230 

Issues,  duties  of  stock  clerk  regarding,  230 
Issues    of    fabrications    immediately 

after  receipt  into  store 234 

Issues  other  than  by  O.  S-K 137,  206 

Issues  on  requisition  for  the  army 234 

Issues  by  storekeepers  to  Z 230 

Issues  by  storekeepers  to  foremen 176 


Job  work 156,  272,  292 

Journal  slips 243,  244,  248,  260 

K. 

Keeping  fabrications  in  charge..  135,  192 


Labor  account,  present  form  of 60 

Labor  account  versus  material  account,  38 

Labor  analyzed 292 

Labor  charges  proposed 85 

Labor,  cost  of,  determined  by  present 

method 72 

Labor,  cost  of,  determined  for  each 

operation 292 

Labor  by  day 152 

Labor  of  soldier  v/orkman 273 

Labor  on  time  book  analyzed.  ..300,  302 

Laws  and  regulations,  extracts  from,  7 

Ledger,  posting 244,  249 

Ledger  slips 244,  248 

Limitation  of  analysis 98,  143,  303 

Limitation  of  books  required  at  arse- 
nals    14 

Limitation  of  symbolic  notation..  109,  125 

L.  S.  section 1 70 

Lyford,  Colonel  S.  C 18 

M. 

Machinery,  deterioration  of 217 

Machinery,  inventory  of 218 

Machines,  time-keeping  of 156 


Machine  shop,  operations  classified..    133 

Machinist,  The  American,  extract no 

Manufactory  one  of  arsenal    depart- 
ments        25 

Marking  material  received 171 

Material,  accountability  of,  compared 

with  that  of  labor 38 

Material  analyzed  for  cost 249 

Material  and  ammunition  expended..     14 
Material  in  charge  of  foremen ...  1 75,   180 
184,  192,  202 
Material  in  charge  issued.     Cases  9 

and   ID 202 

Material  charged,  value  recovered...   284 

Material   classified 43>  47>  243 

Material,  cost  of,  determined  by  pres- 
ent methods 73 

Material,  credits  for 176,  281 

Material  in  C.   S.  and  in  store,  pro- 
posed status  of 133 

Material  dropped.     Case  13 210 

Material  expended  on  arrival.  Case  3,  188 
Material  and  fabrications  inspected,  68,  187 
Material  found  or  taken  up.  Case  12,  208 
Material  on  hand,  determination  of,  54,  249 
Material,  importance  of  proper  ac- 
countability for 2)^ 

Material,  inspection  of,  present  method 

criticized 68 

Material  issued  always  charged 1 75 

Material  on  inventory.     Case  16 217 

Material  issued  by  foremen.    Case  11,  206 
Material  issued  by  storekeeper  to  Z. 

Case  21 230 

Material  kept  in  charge,  175,  180,  184,   192 

Material  named  and  classified 42 

Material,  procuring  of,  present  method 

criticized 67 

Material  procured  from  store.    Case  I,   180 
Material  procured  from  Z  by  C.  O. 

directly I74,  222 

Material  procured  from  Z  to  be  kept 

in  charge.     Case  2 —    184 

Material  purchased  analyzed  as  to  ap- 
propriation     257 

Material  received  credited 1 76,  284 

Material  received,  but  not  paid  for. ..     51 

257,  262 


INDEX. 


361 


Material  records,  requirements  of. .  22,     38 
Material    received    by    storekeepers. 

Cases  18  and  19 222 

Material  remaining  on  hand.     Case  7,   198 
Material  required  for,  approved  in  part,   1 72 

222 

Material  returned  to  store.  Case  8,  70,  200 

Material  section,  material  card 168 

Material  from  store,  present  method 

of  procuring 65 

Material  from  store,  card  for,  treat- 
ment of,  by  cost  clerk 286 

Material,   how  supplied   for  expend- 
itures   II,  1 74 

Material  in  transactions  between  fore- 
men.    Case  17 220 

Material  transferred  between  classes. 

Case  14 212 

Material  transferred  between  shop-or- 
ders.    Cases  6  and  15 196,  214 

Material,  transactions  with,  analyzed,  173 

Material  turned into^tore.  Case  5,  194,  200 

Material  card  described 168 

Material  card,  back  of 1 70 

Material  card,  double  entries  on,  treat- 
ment of,  by  cost  clerk 274,  281 

Material  card  accompanying  vouchers,  1 77 

261 

Material  card,  duplicate 2  74 

Material  cards,   entering  on    journal 

and  ledger 248 

Material  card  needed  by  cost  clerk  for,  260 
Material  card  needed  by  stock  clerk 

for 260 

Material  card,  numbering 248 

Material   card,  representing   material 
from   store,    treatment  of,  by  cost 

clerk 286 

Material  card,  rules  for  using 1 76 

Material   cards   sorted    according    to 

operations 294 

Material    card    sorted    according    to 

source  of  supply 234,  262 

Material  card  stamped  by  clerks  -  - 1 77,  248 

261,  274 
Material  card  temporarily  out,  replaced 

by 262,  274 


Material  card,  use  of 171,  175 

McAUister,  Colonel  J 21 

Mechanical  aids 92 

Members  combined 109 

Member  defined 106 

Michaelis,  Captain  O.  E 20,  156,  273 

2S8,  298,  300 
Miscellaneous    expenses,    determina- 
tion of... 64,  74,  97,  166,  217,  278,  281 
288,  294,  309 

Miscellaneous  operations 127 

Miscellaneous  work  reported 306 

Misclassed  stores  corrected  by  card. .  212 

Money  accounts,  object  of  system  of,  12 

Money  for  pay-roll,  denominations  of,  298 

Monthly  abstract  of  purchases 253,  256 

261 

Monthly  invoices  to  O.  S-K. ..11,  55,  135 

Monthly  returns  required 10 

Monthly  work  report,  preparation  of,  306 

N. 

N.  (number  of  operation) 97,   126 

Names  changed  by  fabrication 39 

Names  of  staple  objects 106 

Names,  sequence  of 11,  43,  47,  243 

260,  264 
National  Armory,  time-keeping.  ..59,     61 

Nomenclature 86,  lio,   187 

Nomenclature  altered..  177,  184,248,  262 
Nomenclature  and  classification  of  ma- 
terial      42 

Nomenclature  of  small  arms,  symbolic, 

in  detail 119 

Nomenclature  of  staple  products  of 
Frankford  Arsenal  in  detail,  sym- 
bolic     123 

Nomenclature,  definitions  in 106 

Nomenclature  of  obsolete  objects 109 

Nomenclature,  remarks  on 125 

Notation  for  successive  operations  of 

same  kind 128 

Notation,  symbolic,  limited,  102,  109,   125 

Number,  symbolic,  of  operation 126 

Numbering  material  card 248 

Numbering  stamp 92,243,   248 

Numbering  vouchers 248,  249,  265 


362 


INDEX. 


O.  PAGE. 

O.  (object  worked  on) 105 

Objections  to  books 77 

Objections  to  cards 77,     86 

Objections  to  present  methods.     (See 

Criticism.) 58,61,65,     76 

Objections  to  wages  tables 269 

Observations,  weight  of 16 

Obsolete  objects,  notation  of 109 

Officer  in  charge,  deputies  of 33 

Officer  in  charge,  status  of 32,  83,   136 

Officers  and  employees,  relations  of. .     27 

pid  tools  found 208 

Omissions  distributed 175 

Omissions,  expenditure  of 204 

Operations  causing  changes  in  condi- 
tion      127 

Operations  causing  changes  in  form. .   127 
Operations  causing  changes  in  shape,   127 
Operations  causing  changes  in  situa- 
tions      127 

Operations  causing  change  of  objects 

by  uniting  them 128 

Operations  in  machine  shop  classified,   128 
Operations,  successive,  notation  for. .   127 

Operations,  symbolic  notation 126 

Operations,  sorting  material  cards  by,  294 
Operations,  sorting  service  cards  by,  292 

Operations,  table  of 133 

Operations  unclassified 128 

Orders  of  supply 9,  230 

Orders,  present  method  of  giving 57 

Orders,  proposed  method  of  giving..   142 

Ordnance  officers,  duties  of 8,     37 

O.  and  O.  S.  defined 8 

Ordnance  and  ordnance  stores  classi- 
fied       43 

Ordnance   regulations 8 

Ordnance  property  regulations 12 

Ordnance  stores  in  the  hands  of  troops,     1 1 

O.  S-K.,  deputies  of 33 

O.  S-K.  and  C.  O.,  dual  responsibil- 
ity of 28 

O.  S-K.,  defenseless  position  of 50 

O.  S-K.,  duties  of 12 

O.  S-K.,  property  accountability  of. .     12 

O.  S-K.,  status  of,  present 27 

O.  S-K.,  status  of,  proposed 83,   134 

Originality  of  method 24 


Outfit  of  cost  clerk 266 

Outfit  of  stock  clerk 243 

Outline  of  proposed  system  of  book- 
keeping       78 

Outside  services,  time  book 156,  292 

P. 
P.  (Plant) 99,   105 

Package  marks 169,  222,  230 

Package  space  filled,  when 1 78 

Packer  sorting  cards 232,  234 

Packing  boxes,  symbolic  nomenclat- 
ure  122,  124 

Packing  stores  for  issue 206,  232 

Paint,  fabrication  of 214 

Parts  of  return 44 

Pattern  symbols 107,  119,   123 

Pay  book 298 

Pay  clerk 83,  260 

Paymaster 83 

Pay-roll 60,  269,  298 

Pay-roll  reconciled  with  cost  sheet 269 

Pay  vouchers  corresponding  with  prop- 
erty vouchers 52,  259,  262,  289 

Piece  defined 107 

Piece  work,  determination  of  price  for,     57 

73 

Piece  work  on  time  book 272 

Piece  work,  record  of 154,  272,  292 

Pigeon  holes 92,  243,  272 

Plant  and  Work 99 

Plant  remaining  on  hand,  appraisal  of,   198 

Plant  under  standing  orders 100,   105 

Plastic  operations  causing  change  of 

form 127 

Posts,  distant,  supply  of 52 

Posting  journal  and  ledger 248,  249 

Post,  military,  one  of  arsenal  depart- 
ments       35 

Post-office 96 

Preparation  of  abstracts,  progressive,  255 

257,  262 
Preparation  of  property  return,  present 

method 48 

Present  method,  compiling  abstracts 

and  property  return 47,     48 

Present   method,  computing  cost   of 
work 37,     72 


INDEX, 


Z^l 


Present  method,  criticism  of. . .  23,  49,     57 
64,  67,  76,  256 
Present  method,  determining  cost  of 

work  by  clerks  and  foremen 72,     74 

Present  method,  external  relations. . .     41 

Present  method,  internal  relations 57 

Present  method,  inspecting  material, 

criticism  of 68 

Present  method,  keeping  time 60 

Present    method,    orders,    compared 

with  proposed  plan 149 

Present  method,  organization  of  arse- 
nal      27 

Present  method  of  procuring  material 

and  its  consequences  in  practice,  28    65 
Present  method  of  procuring  material 

by  purchase 65 

Present  method  of  procuring  material 

from  store 65 

Present  method,  remarks  on  need  of 

a  better  one 55,     76 

Present  time  record,  forms  of 60 

Present  time  record,  interpretation  of,     63 
Present  and  proposed  theories  of  rela- 
tions  31,41,57,  134,  151 

Present  treatment  of  unconsumed  ex- 
penditures       30 

Price  list,  estimated 172 

Price  list,  standard 171 

Price  for  piece  work  determined 38 

Price,  space  filled  by 178 

Price  stated  on  material  card,  when..   171 

Primers,  cannon,  nomenclature 124 

Private  shops,  application  of  system 

to 23,  309 

Private  shops,  comparison  with  pub- 
lic  37,  71,     78 

Private  work  reported 308 

Procuring  material,  criticism  of  pres- 
ent method 67 

Procuring    material    to    be    kept    in 

charge 175,  180,  184,   192 

Procuring  material  from  outer  world 

(Z) 65,  1 74 

Procuring  material  from  store 65,   180 

Product  reported  piecemeal 274 

Profit  and  loss ig2 


Progressive  preparation  of  abstract  C,  255 

257,  262 

Property  accountability.. 7,  8,  10,  12,     28 

36,  41,  250,  256,  250 

Property  regulations 13 

Property  return... 9,  10,  13,  41,  138,  265 
Property  return  and  inventory  criti- 
cized      53 

Property  return,  proposed  method  of 

preparing 265 

Proposed  assistants  to  C.  0 83 

Proposed  changes  in  present  system,   136 

256 

Proposed  internal  relations 151 

Proposed  expansion   of  functions  of 

C.U 134 

Proposed  external  relations 134 

Proposed  method  of  compiling  single 

abstracts 265 

Proposed  organization  of  arsenals 83 

Proposed  method  of  giving  and  record- 
ing shop-orders 142 

Proposed  scope  of  current  service  re- 
turn      134 

Proposed  status  of  Executive  Officer 

and  O.  S-K 83 

Proposed  system,  essential  features  of,     22 

86 
Proposed  system,  instruments  of.  .85,  97 
Proposed  system,  objections  to  use  of 

cards 86 

Proposed  system  outlined 78 

Proposed    system,    propositions    ad- 
vanced      136 

Proposed  time-keeping 152 

Proposed  treatment  of  abstract  of  pur- 
chases  257,  259,  261,  262 

Proposed  wages  tables,  disadvantages 

of 269 

Proving  cost  sheet 290 

Public  funds  disbursed 12,  36,  275 

Punch-marks,  material  card 22,   169 

Punched  signatures 22,91,  154,   164 

Purchases,  abstract  of 13,  49,  253,  255 

262 
Purchases,    card    for,    treatment    by 
clerks 187,  260,  282 


364 


INDEX. 


Purchases,  direct,  by  C.  0 1 74,  222 

Purchases,  present  method  of 65 

Purchases,  requirements  attending,  39,  250 
Purchasing  orders 184 


Quantity  space 169 

Quartermaster's   invoice 232 

Quarterly  returns  required 9 

R. 

Racks 92,  146 

Receipts  and  issues,  abstract  of 10 

Receipt  of  stores  on  arrival 187 

Receipt  of  material  in  emergency 222 

Receipts  before  payment,  51,  257,  262,  289 

Receipts  from  Z 174,  184,  188,  222 

Reconciling  cost  sheet  with  pay-roll,  269 

Reconciling  costs  with  disbursements,  289 

Records  of  arsenals 34 

Record  of  services  outside  arsenal 156 

272,  292 

Recoveries  of  material 284 

Recoveries  of  shop  expenses 288 

Recovery  record 285 

Register  of  fly  bills 262 

Regulations,  ordnance 12 

Relations  of  arsenal,  external,  present 

and  proposed 41,  134 

Relations  of  arsenal,  internal,  present 

and  proposed 27,  83,  142 

Reloading  tools,  etc.,  issue  of 233 

Repairs  affecting  name  or  class 13,  212 

Replacing  material  cards  temporarily 

out 262,  274 

Report  of  cost 272,  296 

Report  of  fabrications,  complete  and 

incomplete 9,  192,  194,  275,  306 

Report  of  private  work 308 

Reporting  product  piecemeal 194,  275 

Report  of  O.  &  O.  S.  received  and  is- 
sued    10 

Reporting  standing  orders  worked  on,  306 

Report  of  work 9,  306 

Requisition  approved  in  part 172,  222 

Requisition  from  army,  issue  on 234 

Requisition  by  material  card 174 

Requisitions  revised 69,  174 


Resting  place  of  cards 177 

Return,  annual 9,  13,  138,  265 

Return,  arsenal,  consolidated 138,  265 

Return  corresponding  to  transaction, 

designation  of,  on  material  card...   248 
Return,  effect  on,  of  changes  proposed,    135 

Return  of  hired  men 10,  298 

Returns,  monthly 10 

Return,  parts  of 44 

Return  of  property,  present  and  pro- 
posed methods  of  preparing,  48,  136,  265 
Return  of  stores  in  current  service,  9,     11 

13.  134 
Return  01   stores  in  current   service, 

present  form  criticized 54 

Return   of  scrap  copper  to  manufac- 
turer    206 

Returning  surplus  to  store 70,  200 

Returns,  transfers  between 137 

Returns,  weekly 10 

Roll  call 153 

Rules  for  using  material  card 1 76 

Running  expenses  of  machinery,  144,  217 

Russell,  Lieut.  A.  H 24 


S-O.  (shop-order  number) 97,     99 

Schedule  of  abstracts  proposed..  130,  141 

Science  of  administration 15 

Scope  of  work 17 

Scrap  of  cartridge  metal 194,  206 

Selections  for  private  shops 310 

Sellers,  Wm. ,  &  Co 24 

Sequence  of  names — 11,  43,  47,  243,  260 

264 

Serviceable  stores  taken  up 13,  137,  177 

Serviceability  of  material 43,  168,  245 

Service  cards 151,  272,  292 

Service  cards  for  machines 156 

Service  cards,  sorted 272,  278,  292 

Services  analyzed  for  cost 292,  300,  302 

Services  analyzed  as  to  appropriations,  300 

Services  outside  the  arsenal,  156,  272,  2QZ 

Sets,  broken,  issue  of 233 

Shape  changed  by  operations 127 

Shop  expenses 65,  74,  97,  142,  149 

166,  218,  278,  281,  288,  294,  309 


INDEX. 


365 


Shop    expenses    charged,    value    re- 
covered   —  288 

Shop  expenses  at  varying  rates 309 

Shop-order  book 142 

Shop-order,  completion  of..  194,  198,  204 

275,  306 
Shop-order  No.  14,  Benicia  Arsenal..   144 

217 

Shop-order  numbers 99 

Shop-order  numbers  on  journal  slips,  248 

Shop-orders,  procedure  with 142 

Shop-order  tickets 145 

Shop-orders,  transfers  between..  177,  214 

Signatures  by  punching 91 

Single  entries,  advantage  of. .  86,  1 72,   1 78 

303 

Situation  changed  by  operations 127 

Slips,  journal  and  ledger 243 

Small-arms,  nomenclature  of,  in  detail,   1 19 

Smith,   Mr.  Oberlin 106,   no 

Soldier  workmen,  time  of 156,  273 

Sorting  contents  of  pigeon  holes,  272,  292 
Sorting   material    cards   representing 

issues 232,  234 

Sorting  material  cards  by  operations,  294 
Sorting  material  cards  by  pay  clerk. .  262 
Sorting  service  cards  by  cost  clerk,  1 72,  292 

Sorting  trough 266 

Stamps 92,  243,  248 

Stamping  material  card 1 77,  248,  274 

Standing  orders 142,  149,  217 

Standing  orders,  Benicia  Arsenal 144 

Standing  orders,  Frankford  Arsenal..    143 

Standing  orders,  plant  under loo,   105 

Standing  orders  worked  on  reported. .  306 
Staple  objects  of  manufacture ....  105,  107 
Staple  objects,  obsolete,  notation  of..   109 

Statement  of  expenditures 300 

Statement  of  manufactures  and  other 

work  done 10,  306 

Statement  of  stores  on  hand. ..  10,  17,     54 

249 
Status  of  material  in  current  service 

and  in  store 134 

Status  of  officer  in  charge 32,  136 

Status  of  O.  S-K 27,   134 

Stencils 230,  266 


Stock  clerk,  duties  of 179,  187,  230 

248,  260,  275 

Stock  section,  material  card 169 

Stone  quarried  on  post 208 

Storekeepers,  duties  of i^t^,  176,  222 

Storekeepers,  proper  functions  of,  134,  176 
Storekeepers  receive  and  issue  cards, 

when 176 

Storekeepers,  transactions  between..  176 

Storekeeper's  transactions  with  Z 222 

230,  234 

Subsidiary  orders 146,  147 

Substitute  for  O.  S-K 12,  13,  33 

Summation  from  cards 266 

Supply  of  distant  posts 52 

Supply,  orders  of 9,  230 

Surplus  to  store,  returning 70,  200 

Symbolic  nomenclature 97,  130 

Symbols  of  class  (object)...  107,  119,  123 

Symbols,  descriptive  (object),  107, 1 19,  123 

Symbols  for  operations 126 

Symbol  of  pattern  (object) ..  107,  119,  123 

Symbolic  names  of  staple  objects 106 

Symbolic  notation 86,  107,  no 

Symbolic  notation,  examples  in  prac- 
tice    131 

Symbolic  notation  limited 98,  109,  125 

Symbolic  notation  of  mechanical  oper- 
ations of  Arsenal 127 

Symbolic  notation  of  packing  boxes..  122 

125 
Symbolic  notation   of  small-arms   in 

detail,  examples 119 

Symbolic  notation  of  staple  products 

at  Frankford  Arsenal  in  detail 123 

System  of  money  accounts,  object  of,  12 

System,  proposed,  history  of 18 

T. 

T.  (Tools) loi,  105 

Table  showing  analysis  of  abstracts..  45 

140,  173 

Table  showing  book-keeping  of  Arse- 
nal   34 

Table  showing  classification   of  ma- 
terial    43 

Table  showing  fabrication  of  paint. ..  214 


21 


366 


INDEX. 


Table  showing  nomenclature no 

Table  showing  operations  of  a  ma- 
chine shop 133 

Table  showing  organization  of  arse- 
nals  27,     83 

Table  of  wages 267 

Taking  up  material..  13,  14,  137,  177,  208 

Target  pasters,  nomenclature 125 

Thumb-mark,  signature 153,  308 

Timber  cut  on  post 208 

Time  book,  proposed 270,  298,  302 

Time  fuzes,  nomenclature 125 

Time-keeping,  National  Armory.. 59,     6i 

Time-keeping  for  machines 156 

Time-keeping,  present  method 59 

Time-keeping,  proposed  method,  151,  272 

Time-keeping,  requirements  of 38,     64 

Time-keeping  for  soldier  workmen. . .    156 

273 
Time-keeping,  small  fractions  of  time,  269 

Title  section,  material  card 168 

Tools  (T.) loi,  105 

Tool  closet 192,  208 

Tools,  combination,  objections  to 76 

Tools  made  for  consumption  in  regu- 
lar work loi,  105,   192 

Tools  found 208 

Transfers  between  returns,  classes  and 

conditions 13,  137,  177,  212 

Transfers  between  shop-orders ..  1 77,   196 

214,  278 
Transfer  of  materials  by  invoice  and 

receipt II 

Trays 96 

Treasury   department,    responsibility 

of  Arsenal  to 36 

Tree  illustrating  extent  of  analysis,  98,  102 

Troughs  for  sorting 266 

Trusteeship 36 

Turning  fabrication  into  store 1 94 

Turning  scrap  into  store 194 

U. 

Unconsumed     expenditures,    present 


treatment  of. 


30 


?AGB. 

Union,  causing  changes  in  object....    127 
Units  of  record,  independence  of. .  86,  152 

172,  173 
Unserviceable   stores    transferred    to 

serviceable 13,  137,  177,  212 

Untouched  fabrications  reported 306 

Unserviceable  O.  &  O.  S.  dropped,  14,'  210 
Use  of  material  card 171,   176 

V. 

Value  of  machinery  estimated 217 

Value  of  detailed  knowledge  of  cost  of 

work 17,  98,  269 

Variable  shop  expenses 309 

Variations  in  nomenclature 187,  248 

Verification  of  abstracts 265 

Vouchers... 1 2,  41,  46,  250,  253,  256,  261 
Vouchers    accompanied    by    material 

cards 177,  261 

Vouchers,  cross-reference  between 262 

Vouchers  numbered 10,  248,  250 

Vouchers,   pay  and  property,  corre- 
spondence between 52,259,  262 

Voucher  space  filled  by 175 

W. 

W.  (Work) 100,  105 

Wages  tables..... 267 

Weekly  returns  required 10 

Work  (W.) 100,  105 

Work  charges  subdivided 100,  104,  292 

Work  by  day,  or  time  work 152 

Work  by  job 156,  272,  292 

Work  by  piece 37,  73,  154,  272 

Work,  private,  reported 308 

Work  report 10,  306 

Work  on  standing  orders  reported 278 

306 
Workmen's  functions  defined 78 

Z. 

Z,  correspondence  with 31,  170,   177 

Z,  issues  to 206,230,  234 

Z,  receipts  from 184,  188,  222 


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